Actions Against the Police

Our priority is making sure that your rights are respected by those in authority who are supposed to be there to protect you. We understand how overwhelming it can be to bring a challenge against public bodies such as the police, the prison service, or the Ministry of Justice. We are valued by our clients for our empathetic approach and the passion with which we fight their corner.

We are one of the few firms who specialise in both civil liberties and criminal defence. Our lawyers have a wealth of experience of dealing with the police during criminal investigations as well as in bringing civil claims for compensation against them.

We are based in Central London but have offices all around the country. If you are unable to travel to us, we can arrange an appointment for you in one of our other offices, including in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and the South East.

Our lawyers are all members of the Police Action Lawyers Group and Inquest Lawyers Group. Some of our lawyers are members of Young Legal Aid Lawyers. The firm is a member of Legal Aid Practioners Group. Being members of these groups means that we have access to a wide network of legal resources and experts.

There are a number of ways in which your case could be funded. Depending on your financial circumstances you may be eligible for public funding (Legal Aid). If you are not eligible for public funding then we can discuss alternative methods of funding your case such as a Conditional Fee Agreements (also known as ‘No Win, No Fee’), and damages based agreements. We also instructed by clients on a private basis. In some cases we are able to agree to cap fees or arrange payments at stages of the case.

You should contact us on 0208 299 6000 or by emailing us at info@gtstewart.co.uk. You will need to complete a form about your enquiry. Either you can fill in the form or a member of our administrative team can go through the form with you by telephone or at one of our offices. They will pass your enquiry onto us. We aim to get back to you within 24 hours of you making the enquiry.

We represented a client in a civil claim against Essex Police for an assault. Our client was a young woman who was assaulted by police in front of her 8 year old daughter, with her 2 year old son sleeping upstairs. In the course of the assault she was molested, punched in the face and sustained head injuries, a broken hand, and a broken wrist. The claim settled with an agreement for the Essex police to pay our client £20,000.

We represented a young 15 year old Asian boy who was subjected to a highly invasive stop and search on a busy public road. He was surrounded by 6 adult police officers, on the basis that they could smell cannabis in the area. No cannabis was found on him. They nevertheless asked him to remove his trousers so that they could search him, and when he refused, pushed him against a fence and pulled his trousers down. Disturbingly one of the officers was later convicted for child grooming offences. Our client was then assaulted, falsely imprisoned and charged with behaving in a threatening manner against 6 adult officers. The criminal case against him was thrown out and we sued the Metropolitan Police for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and assault. The police settled out of court for £21,000.  This is a classic example of police deploying stop and search measures oppressively against young men from minority and ethnic backgrounds and the kind of case we are committed to fighting.

We represented a 23 year old mixed race client, who had mild learning difficulties and was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and had a history of mental illness. At the time of the incident he was resident in supported accommodation provided by Social Services. Police attended at 5.30 am at the client’s hostel in order to execute an arrest for breach of a bail condition. Despite our client exhibiting a willingness to comply with police, what ought to have been a straight-forward arrest very quickly and needlessly escalated into the deployment of physical force and the use of riot equipment. Our client was charged with common assault (and notably, not charged with the specific offence of assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty). GT Stewart represented him in the criminal proceedings. Our client’s case was before the court on a total of 7 occasions before the matter was finally discontinued by the CPS as it was not in the public interest to continue with it. Our team helped him to sue the Metropolitan Police Service for assault, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and disability discrimination. His claim settled with the Metropolitan Police agreeing to pay damages of £10,000.

We obtained £22,000 for a man who was tasered by police and not charged with any offences.

We obtained £2,000 for a man detained for 3 hours on an invalid arrest warrant.

We frequently obtain compensation for clients who have been unlawfully detained because their bail conditions have been changed or the arrest warrant was executed. We also help clients who have suffered discrimination or unfair treatment under the Equality Act.

We work with the leading barristers who specialise in these areas so that the advice you get is the best available..

You have been very professional and have gone above and beyond to ensure I received justice for the crimes against me. I would highly recommend you and your company to anyone in the future, as it has only been a positive experience working with you

Legal Aid is available for a range of civil work including when taking action against the police. To qualify for Legal Aid we will carry out an assessment of your income and capital as well as the prospects of success of your case. The Legal Aid Agency provides an online calculator which you can assess direct to determine whether you may be eligible. We will help you through the Legal Aid Application process and if you are not eligible for free legal advice, we can provide a number of other funding options including:

• Conditional Fee Agreement ( CFA)
• Fixed fee/staged payments
• Hourly rate private fee scheme