Hackney police guilty of assault
01 May 1992
Following allegations of racism and corruption and demands for a judicial inquiry into Hackney police (see Statewatch Vol 2 no 2) the force has come under further criticism following the award of £50,000 to a black woman, Mrs Marie Burke, at Croydon Crown Court
Mrs Burke, a 73 year old grandmother, was assaulted, maliciously prosecuted and falsely imprisoned by the police after her husband was arrested at the family home in east London following a minor traffic accident in January 1989. The accident was reported by a family friend who claimed he was driving the car at the time but the police, when they arrived at the Burke's home, accused Mrs Burke's husband of being the driver and arrested him. Marie Burke was pulled to the ground and held down by three officers when she tried to give her disabled husband his diabetes tablets.
At the police station Mrs Burke was searched and charged with assault although her husband was not charged with any offence. The charges against her were dropped two days later and she sued the Metropolitan Police in a civil action. Her award (which included £20,000 for the assault £15,000 for malicious prosecution and £15,000 for false imprisonment) is one of the highest made against the Metropolitan Police.
The Burkes are the grandparents of Trevor Monerville, a young black man who was arrested by Stoke Newington police in 1987 and who subsequently "disappeared" only to be located in Brixton Prison four days later, where he was found to have a blood clot on his brain. Following surgery, which left him with a loss of memory and suffering from fits, he was subjected to a series of controversial arrests, none of which resulted in conviction.
Following the award Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that no action was to be taken against the officers involved in the assault because "..no allegations against officers were substantiated." In a letter to the Guardian newspaper Chief Superintendent Bernard Taffs, of Hackney and City Road Police Stations, wrote: "Much compassion was shown by individual police officers towards Mr and Mrs Burke at the time and later in court."
In a separate incident a black man Rodney Pilgrim, and his cousin, Valerie Marche, accepted £20,000 in an out-of-court settlement from the Metropolitan Police following their arrest and detention at Dalston Police station in December 1988. The couple were being driven in a car which was stopped for speeding when police accused Mr Pilgrim of throwing cannabis out of the window. At the police station he was strip-searched and arrested for possession; when she protested Ms Marche was charged with obstruction. The charges were later dropped.
There are a number of other civil actions against police in the area still pending and it is estimated that they have already paid over £125,000 in awards so far this year.
Hackney Gazette 21.2.92; Guardian 18.2.92, 20.3.92, 6.4.92; Independent 20.3.92, 21.3.92