Met Police banned a man from Shoreditch ‘after he filmed a stop and search’

The Met Police tried to ban a man from being in Shoreditch at weekends after he filmed a stop and search, human rights lawyers have said.

The man filmed the incident in April 2022 while on his way home, and had previously filed complaints about police misconduct, according to Liberty.

He was issued with a Community Protection Notice (CPN), which stated he was not allowed to enter Shoreditch from Thursday to Sunday, could not be “within 20 metres” of bus stops and train stations, and was banned from “loitering or being found” near any residential area in Hackney.

The Met eventually overturned the order the day before an appeal hearing was due to take place following intervention from Liberty, who argued it breached the man’s human rights.

Lara ten Caten, a lawyer with Liberty, said: “We should all be free to walk around our neighbourhoods without being detained by local police officers. Police powers are being used far too broadly, and in this case illegitimately. 

“This U-turn from the Metropolitan Police should send a crucial message to all police forces that they must stop criminalising people without evidence.”

The man had no previous convictions, but was known to local police for often recording stop and searches, and had previously been issued with a Community Protection Warning (CPW).

After the CPW was upgraded to a CPN, he was banned from Shoreditch at weekends unless “attending the area for a pre-arranged appointment with a legal representative or are in company with someone from the emergency services or local authority or for legitimate employment”.

It also banned him from “engaging in any conduct causing or capable of causing nuisance, annoyance or harassment, alarm and distress to any person within the Hackney” and being in possession of an open container that could be used for “obtaining money or other reward from other people within the SHOREDITCH NIGHT TIME ECONOMY.”

A breach of the order carried a £2,500 fine.

ten Caten added: “The issuing of disproportionate CPNs is very worrying at any time, but even more so now. By ripping up the Human Rights Act the Government and state bodies are trying to make themselves untouchable. We must remain vigilant and hold those in power to account.”

The Met Police did not comment.