Boy wins two-year legal fight over police record of school assault

 
28 May 2013
WEST END FINAL

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A teenager has won a two-year battle to force Scotland Yard to correct false information held about him in police records.

Jonathan Fromings launched a civil action against Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe after he found the force held inaccurate details of him on its crime database.

He was the victim of an assault at his school in south London when he was 16 and suffered a broken eye socket and bruising. 9

Footage from CCTV cameras shows he was attacked by a fellow pupil but his family discovered that police records accused him of starting the fight, as well as giving false information about his injuries and the CCTV.

Jonathan’s father Nicholas, 50, an accountant, launched a case on his behalf against Sir Bernard when the Met refused to correct the details, arguing it was exempt from data protection rules.

His son had paid a £10 fee to the Met to receive a copy of what was written about him.

The force first said he could not have the information, and handed it over only when the civil action was launched six months later.

The family found “numerous errors” in the police report. District judge Sir Nicholas Greenfield has now ruled at Dartford county court that police statements were not exempt from the law and described the Met’s report of Jonathan’s case as “wholly inaccurate”.

He concluded: “The police failed to properly consider the accurate information that was available, the CCTV footage, the teacher’s report and the medical report.”

Jonathan, now 17, from Crayford, needed three operations on his eye socket after the attack and still has limited vision in one eye.

He said: “I did not want to have a bad record of me on the police file. I was also worried about the effect on my future career. After I was beaten up and in hospital this was the last thing I wanted.

“As a victim you should feel safe with the police and for them to then say bad things about me was not great.“

Jonathan, who is studying at a further education college, said he once wanted to be a police officer, “but now I am not so sure”.

His claim for criminal injuries compensation was rejected because of the false information but he was later awarded £5,720. One police officer was found guilty of misconduct over the initial investigation. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said : “A line has been added to the crime report clarifying the victim’s position.”

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