A black youth worker who was shot with a Taser electrical weapon while standing with his arms folded during a road stop has won an appeal for damages from City of London police.
The appeal court ruled that the police used unlawful force against Edwin Afriyie, 38, after he was pulled over in the City while driving home from a party in 2018.
In a judgment published on Friday, Lord Justice Davis said Afriyie’s civil claim for assault and battery should have been allowed because “the use of a Taser was not objectively reasonable in the circumstances”.
Officers at the scene had wrongly claimed in written statements that Afriyie had adopted a “fighting stance” before being stunned. In fact, body-worn footage showed Afriyie standing a distance from officers with his arms folded when the Taser weapon was discharged.
Afriyie told the Guardian: “I’m so happy that justice has finally prevailed. I’m still in shock and I’m grateful to the judges and the courts for doing the right thing. I hope that people who have gone through – and will go through – similar situations with the police will now have the courage to fight for justice.
“But it is also bittersweet because I’m not happy with how hard we had to fight for it. The justice system has allowed me and my loved ones to go through this extended torture for more than six years.”
The incident followed an argument with police about a breathalyser not registering a result. Afterwards, Afriyie fell backwards, hit his head on a stone window ledge and sustained a minor traumatic head injury.
Afriyie brought a civil claim for damages that was rejected by the high court last year. The judge in that case ruled that the officer who fired his Taser weapon was justified in believing he needed to because Afriyie “was a large and muscular man” who “was clearly very agitated”.
A panel of three judges in the appeal court accepted arguments from Afriyie’s legal team that the judge should have ruled that the level of force used was not lawful or necessary.
Lady Chief Justice Carr noted: “Tasers are prohibited firearms. They are potentially lethal weapons … The use of a Taser on the appellant, who at the time of discharge was standing still in a non-aggressive stance with his arms folded and talking to his friend, was not objectively reasonable in the circumstances.”
Afriyie was driving three friends back from a party in east London in April 2018 when he was pulled over by police in the City. Officers told him they believed he was speeding, but he was never prosecuted for this.
As a youth and community worker, Afriyie said he tried to improve trust between young black Londoners and the police, but he believes he was singled out because he was a black man driving a Mercedes coupe.
His legal claim did not address race discrimination but he told the Guardian that police in the incident “treated him like a wild animal” and that the experience would never have happened to him if he was white.
Kevin Donoghue, Afriyie’s lawyer, said: “This judgment should reassure the public that victims of the unlawful use of force by the police will take aggressive action to hold them to account. It’s been six years to get justice for Ed. They should be accepting responsibility and seeking to remedy the situation rather than dragging it out through the courts, causing six years of emotional toll for Ed.”
It is unclear at this stage whether the City of London police will consider seeking permission to appeal further – meaning the case could ultimately go to the supreme court. If they do not take the case to a higher court, Afriyie is understood to be in line for a payout in the region of £30,000.
Both legal teams have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the case. In addition to the appeal court expenses there had to be two high court trials after the judge fell ill at the conclusion of the first.
A spokesperson for City of London police said: “We are disappointed by the ruling published today and will need to take time to consider our next steps before we can comment further.”
