A Black youth worker, Edwin Afriyie, who was tasered by City of London police during a 2018 traffic stop, has won an appeal for damages after a court ruled that the officers used unlawful force. The 38-year-old was pulled over while driving home from a party, and officers claimed in their reports that Afriyie adopted a “fighting stance.” However, body camera footage later revealed he was standing calmly with his arms folded when the Taser was discharged.
In the judgment released Friday, Lord Justice Davis stated that Afriyie’s civil claim for assault and battery should have succeeded, ruling that “the use of a Taser was not objectively reasonable in the circumstances.”
