Police watchdog investigating after officer filmed struggling with young man outside north London school

The IOPC will investigate after footage emerged of a police officer struggling with a young man
PA

An independent investigation has been launched after video circulated on social media showing a police officer struggling with a young man in north London. 

The Metropolitan Police said three officers were injured after a 16-year-old was detained during a stop and search incident on Tuesday. 

In a statement issued on Friday, the Met said that officers stopped a group of people outside a school in West Green Road, Haringey at 4.50pm.

They said officers detained a young man for the purpose of a search, making a circle around him when a crowd gathered.

Four teenagers, all aged 16, were arrested and have been bailed to return to a north London police station on a date in January.

A protest was staged on Friday after footage was shared on social media showing one of the officers struggling with a young man. At one point the officer appears to throw a punch at the young man’s head. 

Campaign group Stand Up To Racism shared a video on Twitter, adding that a “community protest” had been organised for this afternoon. Around 100 protesters including some with megaphones brought Tottenham High Road to a standstill, chanting ‘black lives matter’ and ‘f**k the police’.

Detective Chief Superintendent Treena Fleming, Commander of the North Area Basic Command Unit, said the videos showed a “snap shot in time and the wider context is not immediately obvious".

She added that the police recognised the “community concern” around the incident and the Independent Office for Police Conduct would be carrying out an independent investigation of the incident.

“I am aware of videos circulating on social media showing part of the incident and we are working to establish the full circumstances of what occurred," said Detective Chief Superintendent Fleming.

“A criminal investigation is underway to ascertain how the officers received their injuries and welfare support is being provided to them.

“It is important to remember that videos show a snap shot in time and the wider context is not immediately obvious. I would ask that our communities allow us the time for the incident to be reviewed in full so that all the circumstances can be established.”

Protesters gathered in Tottenham on Friday afternoon
Barney Davis

Speaking at the scene of the protest, one demonstrator, Gary Macfarlane, said people were “outraged” over the  footage.  He said the young man’s teacher had told him he had been in the area to collect a qualification certificate.

Bennett Obong, deputy chair of the local stop and search monitoring group, said: "When I saw the video we were very concerned about it. 

"We’ve seen the body cam footage but it’s an active investigation. We’ve given them feedback. We are limited on what we can say.

“The school wanted extra support because there had been robberies. So they were there for a good reason. But on a local level we are very concerned.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in