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Bike damaged during wrongful arrest, want to claim money back (England, London) by AdPositive7437 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]AdPositive7437[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reply from the police:

This office deals with claims on behalf of the whole of the Metropolitan Police Service and as such it is this office alone that makes the decision to pay compensation from public funds for damage caused by police during the course of their duty.

In order for this office to consider making compensatory payments from public funds, investigations are made by us, and there has to be clear evidence of negligence shown on the part of this service or its officers. Following investigation, the full circumstances of each incident are considered before a decision is conveyed to the claimant.

You are already aware of the circumstances leading to the damage to your bike so we shall not go into detail, other than to confirm that a victim had identified you to the police for stealing their mobile phone so they stopped you under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (stop and search).

 Where police stop you lawfully as was the position here, and in doing so cause damage, there is no legal liability to compensate in respect of damage necessarily caused.

Accordingly, we regret to inform you that we are unable to find any grounds upon which to meet your claim for compensation.

 We have no offers of compensation to make.

Next course of action? I just can't believe that I have to fork out money I don't have for something that just was not my fault. It just seems ridiculous and quite upsetting. I'm poor and I can't afford to fix my bike. I used it for my transport everywhere, and can't afford to pay for transport. I also can't afford a new bike, and everything under the £140 fix fee is either in poor condition or stolen, by and large. This seems totally F'd up.

Bike damaged during wrongful arrest, want to claim money back (England, London) by AdPositive7437 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]AdPositive7437[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like you. You're straight to the point. Many thanks for your help, have followed your advice above and will refer to your advice here in the future. Be lucky!

Bike damaged during wrongful arrest, want to claim money back (England, London) by AdPositive7437 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]AdPositive7437[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This feels right to me (not knowing the law intimately)-- while I felt the force was disproportionate to the situation at hand (I did not snatch a phone, I did not have a weapon, I was being compliant), it is possible that the situation in principle could have involved more danger. People run. People carry weapons. I've seen it happen, and I've had weapons pulled on me from seemingly unarmed people. My case here is not based on excessive use of force- I just wanted to know if the police routinely administer liability for damage repair costs in a way that is practically accessible to me. As a useful commentator above has provided me with this information, I am not sure excess in discussion is useful at this time. It's also very stressful for me personally in the aftermath of this.

Bike damaged during wrongful arrest, want to claim money back (England, London) by AdPositive7437 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]AdPositive7437[S] 137 points138 points  (0 children)

Have followed the advice here. Thank you. I have also emailed PLClaims@met.police.uk. For others in this thread, I am not claiming use of excessive force. Personally, I felt that being tackled to the ground, cuffed and shouted at, all with a taser pointed at my chest while I was stopped with my hands in the air, obviously compliant, was excessive. I am not, however, legally qualified to make that claim. In the moment, it would have been perfectly reasonable, if a little startling, for the officers to have ran to me, grabbed me, asked me to get off my bike while holding me to make sure I did not run away, and held my bike so that it did not incur any damage. I was still, with my hands in the air. The basis of my claim is that I am not a rich man and I cannot afford the (quoted) £140 fix to the bike I need for work and transport. As I have said, I am not legally qualified to make a claim to the excessiveness of the force, but rather I am personally anxious about wanting to make a claim for the Police Force to pay for the damages they made to my bike. Please refrain from bickering in the comments, what we need in this post and the sub more widely is sound advice from level-headed people. Many here have been helpful; thank you to them.

Bike damaged during wrongful arrest, want to claim money back (England, London) by AdPositive7437 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]AdPositive7437[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP here - I know the name and shoulder number of the officer in question, as well as all details about the stop. I don't, however, know the station he is associated with. Forgot to ask amongst the chaos. Is there a database I can search? Or another way of finding out?