Boy aged 13 yelled ‘ black lives matter’ as he kicked two officers
A BOY of 13 who attacked two police officers while shouting ‘black lives matter’ as they grappled with a suspect in broad daylight was fined yesterday.
The attack, shared on social media, led police to warn they were being treated as punchbags while on duty.
The teenager, who cannot be named, kicked PC Andrew Macpherson in the head as the officer struggled with a mugging suspect on the ground, before kicking PC Reem Ali in the back of the knee.
He took a selfie while the officers grappled with three other men and told PC Ali she should be ‘ashamed’ of herself when she helped her stricken colleague. The teenager apologised and said he ‘acted
‘Force is becoming society’s punchbag’
impulsively’ after seeing coverage from the US following the death of George Floyd.
PC Macpherson suffered a bloody graze to the shoulder and injuries to his chest and back during the assault in Hackney, east London, on June 10. Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was ‘sickened’ by the footage, which caused police chiefs to warn the force was becoming ‘society’s punchbag’.
The boy was given a nine-month referral order at Stratford Youth Court after pleading guilty to two charges of assault on an emergency worker at an earlier hearing. He was ordered to pay £307 in costs, including £100 compensation to each police officer. Referral orders are available to under-18s who plead guilty and agree to discuss their behaviour with a youth offender panel.
Paul Kabemba, 33, Jordan Thomas, 20, and Marvin Henderson, 34, from Hackney, were also arrested after the attack.
Kabemba denied assaulting PC Macpherson and a member of the public. Thomas and Henderson pleaded not guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. All three will appear at Wood Green Crown Court in north London on July 10.