Boy, 13, beat police officers while shouting ‘Black Lives Matter’

The bike-riding teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also took a selfie of the officer who was struggling with a suspect on the ground during the incident in Hackney, north-east London

A boy, 13, who kicked a police officer in the head while shouting ‘Black Lives Matter‘ in an ‘unprovoked attack’ on the streets of London has today been given a referral order.

The bike-riding teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also took a selfie of the officer who was struggling with a suspect on the ground during the incident in Hackney, north-east London.

The incident, which was captured on video and went viral on social media, was broken up when a concerned member of the public, carrying a baseball bat, tried to break-up the struggle. 

Today the teenage attack claimed in court that he carried out the assault on the officer because he saw him holding a suspect in a headlock.

And he said he was ‘scared’ after everything he had seen in the news regarding the death of American George Floyd and the subsequent world-wide protests by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The teenager today appeared at Stratford Youth Court, in London, following the incident on June, June 10, in which he also kicked another officer.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker at an earlier hearing and was today sentenced to nine month referral order, ordered court costs of £307, including £100 compensation to each of the police officers. 

The court heard how PC Andrew MacPherson and PC Reem Ali were attacked during the incident, as was one member of the public.  

Video footage showed three men and a teenager (left) around the police officer during the incident in Hackney on June 10.

A concerned member of the public carrying a baseball bat (pictured right) came to break-up the incident

Video footage showed three men and a teenager (left) around the police officer during the incident in Hackney on June 10. A concerned member of the public carrying a baseball bat (pictured right) came to break-up the incident

Prosecutor Varinder Hayre said the teenager, riding a bike, was the fourth person to arrive at the scene and found the officer struggling on the floor with another man.

She told the court: ‘The situation started to escalate. The police officer had to activate his emergency button.

‘[The teen] got off his bicycle while filming the scene on his mobile telephone and kicked PC McPherson on his collar bone while he was still on the floor.

‘[The teen] jumped back out of the way and took a selfie of himself.

‘PC Ali was kicked in the leg by a large male who is another defendant in this case [The teen] kicked PC Ali on the back of her right knee causing her leg to swing forward.

‘The police officers were aided by a member of the public carrying a baseball bat who tried to diffuse the situation.’

When police seized the teenager’s phone and examined it they found a video of the boy shouting ‘Black Lives Matter’ during the attack, in which PC MacPherson suffered a bloody graze on his shoulder, suffered muscle pain in his chest and back and pain in his ribs.

PC Ali escaped without serious injury. The court heard the teen was interviewed the following day and made full admissions to his part in the assault.

The prosecutor added: ‘He believed he was helping the defendant. Combined with everything that he had been seeing in the news in regards to Black Lives Matter he had been helping the defendant who had been seen in a headlock.

‘[The teen] said he did kick the officer while he was on the floor and for that he was sorry.’

Ms Hayre also read out victim impact statements from the officers.

PC MacPherson said: ‘I won’t describe myself as upset at any point and walked away without significant injury.

‘They decided to assault police officers without any context or knowledge of what was happening beforehand.

‘It speaks to their character. I am disappointed but not surprised by people who would rather film a video to put on social media.

The teenager today appeared at Stratford Youth Court (pictured), in London, following the incident on June, June 10, in which he also hit and poked another officer

The teenager today appeared at Stratford Youth Court (pictured), in London, following the incident on June, June 10, in which he also hit and poked another officer

‘It is sad that society has become skewed in its view of policing. Police officers are judged by one of many thousands of incidents.’

He added: ‘If I had reacted differently, I am certain I would have been called a racist police officer. My face and name could have been all over the internet and papers. What would this have done to me?’

PC Ali said: ‘People want five minutes of fame now and perhaps he got the five minutes of fame he wanted.

‘I was disappointed at other people who recorded the incident rather than helping the police officer.

‘The only real men in that incident were PC MacPherson and the man with the bat. That has definitely kept my faith in humanity.’

She added: ‘I do not feel welcome by some members of the BAME community. I was called a racist and evil for just doing my job. I was trying to help my colleague who was on the floor but they were shouting ‘Black Lives Matter’.’ 

Mitigating, Stephen McCabe said the boy was acting ‘impulsively’ and did not know what was happening at the time, incorrectly believing it to be similar to the George Floyd killing by officers in Minneapolis that sparked protests around the world. 

‘He’ll be 14 in a few weeks time. He acted impulsively and didn’t know what was happening. He just got involved and started filming. He didn’t plan to go out and cause trouble with the police.

Marvin Henderson, 34, outside Thames Magistrates Court

Jordan Thomas, 20, outside Thames Magistrates Court

Three other people have been charged with attacking the two police officers in Hackney, East London, have been pictured after appearing in court. Pictured: Marvin Henderson, 34, Jordan Thomas, 20, outside Thames Magistrates Court

Paul Kabemba, 33, was the third suspect to be arrested and he too was pictured near the court

Paul Kabemba, 33, was the third suspect to be arrested and he too was pictured near the court

‘He saw something that was happening and lost the ability to think clearly.’ 

The teenager also gave a letter of apology to the court. 

Chair of the bench, Sharon Higgins said: ‘Life’s about learning. It really is. When we see people in uniforms, it’s hard to look past the uniform and see the human being.’

Sentencing, she said: ‘You committed assault by beating of two emergency workers – that’s the police officers involved.

‘This is a serious offence, there’s no getting away from that and take that into account on sentencing.

‘But we do feel as a 13-year-old this has been a wake up call for you. We also acknowledge the support of your parents, they must be very worried about you and that’s something for your family to think about.

‘We understand this was an impulsive action at the time and you were encouraged by an adult to get stuck in there.

‘Your feelings were heightened at the time because of what was happening in the US and the Black Lives Matter movement at the time.

‘We recognise your remorse and admission at the earliest possible stage.’ 

Paul Kabemba, 33, Jordan Thomas, 20, and Marvin Henderson, 34, from Hackney, north east London, were also arrested after the incident.

The trio, who denied all charges against them at Thames Magistrates’ Court in June, will face a trial at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday.