YouTube Video Quashes Violent Disorder Police Charges

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 7:45 pm

Lawyers representing Jake Smith have called for an inquiry into his prosecution by the police after it was made apparent that the police had withheld vital video footage for more than a year, which showed Smith being hit by police officers with batons and shields outside the Israeli embassy in January 2009.

The police had submitted video footage to support two cases of violent disorder against Smith which they said showed him throwing a stick at police in one case and pushing barricades towards police lines in another.

The prosecution barrister at Isleworth crown court said a review of the video evidence ‘very much undermined’ their case, which was subsequently dropped against Smith.

Matt Foot, of solicitors Birnberg, said ‘The police presented a wholly false picture of my client. What the police initially showed of my client’s involvement in the demonstration was a cut and paste job, and it is only with persistence that you get to see the true picture at the police station two days before the case is due to be heard. You can’t ambush an innocent man like that.’

The video footage which showed Smith being hit by police wearing riot gear, which overturned the case, was seen on YouTube by Smith. However, despite the video footage being public viewing on YouTube, Foot had been told by the Metropolitan police that they had no further video footage for more than a year.

On the day before the trial was due to take place Foot was informed that there was seven and half hours of video footage which might be relevant. Smith’s legal team spent hours searching the police archives before they came across footage of Smith pushing the barricades along with footage of him being beaten by the police just moments before Smith began pushing the barricades.

Foot went on to say that ‘There is no way I would have found this unless we hadn’t stumbled across the YouTube footage’. Foot also found video evidence which the court heard proving that his client could not have thrown the stick. He went on to say that he would be writing to the Independent Police Complaints Commission requesting an independent inquiry into the way the case had been handled.

Actions against the police may also be considered after Smith said ‘I’ve been on bail for more than a year and it’s really messed up my life. I had no idea the police could behave like that. They were spitting at me, beating me on the head, and I would have been the one doing three years in jail if I’d been found guilty. Where’s the justice in that?’

If you have been a victim of false imprisonment or wrongful arrest by the Police, contact David Phillips & Partners Solicitors either by using the form on this page or by calling 0800 027 7870.