Charlie Harrison, 39, was sentenced Monday in Southwark Crown Court, London, for causing serious bodily harm, metropolitan police said in a statement.
His sentence follows a five-day trial last month during which he was convicted by majority verdict, police added.
Harrison, who was working in Met’s violent crime task force, was dressed in civilian clothes when he got out of his unmarked police car and approached Carl Abrahams and his two children in Newham, east London. on December 31, 2018, according to Judge Greg Perrins. ‘sentences sentences seen by CNN.
Abraham had taken his children, ages 13 and 16, to visit his mother’s grave in Manor Park Cemetery and was walking home when Harrison approached and blocked their path, according to the judge’s statements.
Abrahams told the court he was unaware Harrison was a police officer. He passed him and kept walking, at which point Harrison kicked him in the leg and knocked him to the ground, Perrins said.
Abrahams suffered a knee fracture and has had to give up football and running as a result of the injury, court documents report.
The judge said Abraham and his sons had done nothing wrong and had not acted with suspicion.
“After hearing the evidence at trial, I firmly suspect that the reason he stopped Mr. Abraham and his children was because they were black,” Perrins said. “If Mr. Abraham and his children were white, I suspect you would just drive.”
Abraham’s children “are afraid of the police and believe they are still at risk of being attacked by the color of their skin” three years later, the statements continue.
Police said Harrison has been suspended from office and will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.
“It was found that his actions had fallen far below the standard we expect from our police officers, with one man left seriously injured,” Police Commander Paul Betts said in the statement.
“This kind of behavior has no place in our police service and undermines the trust of the communities we are here to protect,” Betts added.
Perrins acknowledged that Harrison’s career in the police is over.
“I accept that this is difficult for you,” the judge said. “However, it’s not anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”
In 2020, data from the UK government showed that between April 2018 and March 2019 there were 38 stops and searches per 1,000 blacks in England and Wales, compared to four per 1,000 whites. .
And an exclusive CNN / Savanta ComRes poll found that blacks in the UK are twice as likely as whites to say the police have not treated them with respect.