skip to main |
skip to sidebar
From
The Telegraph in the UK:
Jody McIntyre (pictured) says officers beat him with batons and pulled him across the ground and has now accused the police of premeditated violence during Thursday's protests.
The 20-year-old told The Sunday Telegraph: "I wasn't the only one to suffer that day. The police deliberately used violence to try and provoke the protesters into fighting back and in that way losing public support."
His claims came after the Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an investigation into claims that student Alfie Meadows, 20, was left fighting for his life after being struck by a police truncheon as he walked away from the scene of the protests.
Nearly 50 people have so far complained to the IPCC about police behaviour during student demonstrations held around the country in the past four weeks, with the majority directed against the Metropolitan Police.
Mr McIntyre, who has cerebral palsy, had attended all the previous student demonstrations in central London, even managing, with the help of friends, to get on to the roof of Millbank Tower, where the Conservative Party has its headquarters, on November 10.
Last Thursday he was equally determined to make his voice heard outside the Houses of Parliament, as MPs gathered inside the chamber of the Commons to vote on the Coalition's plans to raise student fees.
On reaching Parliament Square with his 16-year-old brother Finlay, Mr McIntyre quickly became caught up in a large crowd of protesters being pushed back by police.
He said: "I managed to get through to the front of the crowd and ended up facing the police, It was clear that they wanted violence. You could see it in their faces. They started using their batons and one hit me on my left shoulder, sending a sharp shooting pain down my arm. Other people around me were being hit on the head.
"Four policemen then grabbed my arms and shoulders and dragged me out of my wheelchair. My brother and some friends tried to pull me back but the police were beating them."
Ten minutes after Mr McIntyre was pulled out of the crowd by riot officers his brother managed to struggle through police lines with his wheelchair. The pair then rejoined the crowd of protesters, this time surging towards back through Parliament Square towards the Department of Education, in Victoria Street.
In the melee Mr McIntyre and Finlay found themselves alone in a no-mans land between the crowd and the police. It was at this point that he claims he was targeted by one of the same officers who had earlier dragged him out of his wheelchair.
He said: "A policeman was in front of me, telling me to move, but he was a bit nervous because I am disabled. Then out of the corner of my I saw one of the officers from the previous incident. He seemed to recognise me from earlier and came running over."
Without warning, claims Mr McIntyre, the officer tipped his wheelchair over and pushed him onto the tarmac. He dragged me across the road by my arms," said Mr McIntyre. "It was painful."
An angry crowd was soon swarming around the officer, shouting at him to release Mr McIntyre. "I managed to get back into my wheelchair and lost sight of the police officer, who was surrounded by protesters," he added.
However Mr McIntryre, who attended Haberdashers' Aske's school in south east London and writes a blog called Life on Wheels, did manage to take a note of the officer's number and is now set to report him to the Met and the IPCC.
As well as Mr Meadows's case the IPCC is investigating a complaint from 20-year-old Tahmeena Bax, a third-year history student at Queen Mary University in east London, that she was struck over the head with a truncheon during the demonstration in London on November 30, along with a complaint from the mother of a 15-year-old girl who alleges her daughter suffered a broken foot during the November 24 demonstration.
An IPCC spokesman said: "The investigations will seek to establish the nature of any police contact that took place, and whether any police actions were lawful, proportionate and necessary."
Scotland Yard refused to comment on Mr McIntyre's complaint, but said: "We encourage anyone with concerns about how we handle the needs of wheelchair users in situations like this to come to us. The Metropolitan police works to ensure the right to demonstrate peacefully can be exercised by all sections of the community."
