Key facts
- A jury found the Metropolitan Police discriminated against a Black teenager, Daryl McLune, because of his race.
- McLune was arrested and detained for 23 hours on suspicion of attempted murder of his mother after she attempted suicide.
- The jury found McLune was treated less favorably than a non-Black boy would have been.
- The court heard that forensic samples taken from McLune's hands were never processed.
- McLune's lawyers are seeking approximately £130,000 in damages, citing PTSD, nightmares, and flashbacks.
- The Met acknowledged the distress of the arrest and committed to tackling discrimination and unconscious bias.
A teenager who was wrongly arrested for the attempted murder of his mother has won a race discrimination claim against the Metropolitan Police. A jury found that the Met discriminated against Daryl McLune, who was 16 at the time, because he was Black.
McLune was arrested and held for 23 hours on suspicion of the attempted murder of his mother, Annette, after she attempted to take her own life at their home in London in 2021. The civil trial centred on the events of July 25, 2021, when McLune returned home to find his mother on the ground outside their home. Central London county court heard that officers arrested the boy and took him to Wandsworth police station.
The court also heard that he remained in handcuffs for five hours until police took forensic samples from his hands, which were never processed or submitted. McLune was described in court as a diligent student with no previous contact with police, and he subsequently dropped out of school after his arrest.
Arguing for a damages payout of about £130,000, McLune’s lawyers told the court the ordeal had a profound effect on his life, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares, and flashbacks. The court heard that blood in the family’s flat led officers to believe the incident was “suspicious”, while police were unaware of bloody razor blades and a suicide note, which were later discovered.
At the end of a seven-day trial, the jury returned verdicts finding that it was proved McLune was treated “less favourably than a non-black boy” would have been by the police in deciding to arrest him and detain him for such a long period. They also found that the Met had not proved the arresting officer honestly suspected he had committed attempted murder, nor that it was “reasonable and necessary” to keep him handcuffed until forensic samples were taken. Although the jury found his handcuffing had not involved excessive force, his treatment as a whole was a breach of the European convention on human rights, not to be subjected to “inhuman or degrading treatment”.
The Met stated they were aware of the jury's findings and acknowledged how distressing the arrest was in the tragic circumstances. The force committed to tackling all forms of discrimination, including unconscious bias, and noted that cases like this damage community trust.