A barrister and former trade union official has received a written apology and £3,000 compensation from the Metropolitan Police after he was arrested and handcuffed at a picket line.

Franck Magennis, formerly the head of legal for the United Voices of The World (UVW) union, was attending a demonstration outside St George’s University Hospital, south London, to support striking security guards when he was detained in January 2020.

The UVW said he was arrested after questioning the basis on which officers warned workers and union officials with arrest if they continued to picket on NHS property.

Magennis, of Garden Court Chambers, and the union put the Met on notice of a claim for alleged breaches of Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights Act, arguing that strikers and supporters were forced to move following Magennis’ arrest.

Scotland Yard sign

Magennis has received a written apology and £3,000 compensation from the Met

Source: Alamy

The Met has now written to Magennis to apologise ‘for the way you were treated when you were arrested, put in handcuffs and searched … when attending a picket in your capacity as trade union official’.

‘Whilst the Metropolitan Police Service constantly strives to maintain the highest standards, incidents occasionally occur when the level of service falls below that standard,’ Inspector Andy O’Donnell from Met’s directorate of professional standards said. ‘On this occasion, and on the facts as known, it would appear that the level of service has fallen below the requisite standard.’

Magennis said in a statement: ‘This victory should send the message that we know our rights and that if the police show up and try and do the bosses’ bidding, if they set a foot wrong, if they make a single mistake, we will come down on them like a ton of bricks. They are not to mess with our picket lines because if they do we are going to defend ourselves. We don’t tolerate cops or bosses or anyone pushing us around.’

His solicitor Susie Labinjoh of London and Liverpool firm Hodge Jones & Allen said: ‘The right to engage in lawful industrial action is a cornerstone of our democracy. Trade union members exercising those rights should not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or indeed threats of arbitrary arrest.’

She added: ‘This settlement sends a strong message to the Metropolitan Police Service that they must ensure that any policing of industrial action is conducted lawfully.’

 

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