Who does the police work for? A Statement by Southall Black Sisters

[IwantToRetire]

This is from October last year and I thought there was a thread about it, but if there was it has gone. So will post link to the statement from that time as there has been an update today.

On the night of Friday, the 29th September, Selma Taha, Executive Director of SBS, and her friends were verbally and physically assaulted in an extremely violent racist attack on public transport; this included pulling clumps of hair off Selma and her friend and biting Selma’s flesh, leaving a deeply embedded imprint of her teeth which necessitated a tetanus injection and antibiotics.

A Metropolitan Detective Constable was present at the scene but did nothing to de-escalate the verbal racist abuse when the assailant, a white woman, began making monkey sounds, calling Selma and her friends “bitches”, and “slaves,” and subjecting them to other vile racist slurs. Nor did he apprehend the attacker until it turned into extremely violent physical assault.

To make sense of today's statement you do read the original statement in full which is at https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/who-does-the-police-work-for-a-statement-by-southall-black-sisters/

Update – Violent Racist Attack on Selma Taha and Friends

On 5 October 2023, I made it known publicly that I and two friends had been the victims of racist abuse and physical violence on the tube, and that a police officer was present, off-duty, who had failed to intervene during the incident to de-escalate the situation so as to protect me and my friends.

In a development that is deeply shocking to the three of us, the CPS has now made the following charging decisions:https://southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/update-violent-racist-attack-on-selma-taha-and-friends/

And completely agree off duty police should not have to intervene in every given situation. We don’t live in a police state.

I notice misbehaviour every time I go out. Imagine being expected to intervene all the time.

Black 'girls'? One if them is Selma Taha, Executive Director of SBS, who is over 12 and deserves the title of adult female human, aka woman, as do her friends, also presumably adults.

SBS is a well respected organisation that has been fighting violence against women and supporting women since 1979.
To the best of my knowledge it has never accepted the TWAW line, and is actually women-only, unlike other crisis centres who have been in the news recently.

So if the Executive Director of SBS says she experienced something, with or without photographic evidence of injuries - I hear you, Selma Taha, I'm sorry you had that frightening experience of the kind of violence your organisation has been fighting since 1979, and I hope you get justice.

Given the nature of the injuries I'm surprised that they can just caution someone and not take it to court. I'd guess the assailant was pleading self defence against 3 people and claiming not to have initiated the violence.

Until it comes to court it wont be obvious what exactly happened so I'm not going to speculate. I subscribe to innocent until proved guilty.

Also reserving judgment until the full facts are available. This is very clearly just one side of the incident.

SBS do some very good work so hoping justice will prevail.

And, whatever turns out to have happened with the fight, it is vile that the women involved experienced racist abuse. I'm not going to justify violence, if they started the fight (not saying that they did), but I can understand feeling physically threatened by verbal abuse.

Yes. The racist abuse sounds disgusting.

I wonder whether the PP using ‘girls’ got the wrong impression from the idea of a group physically fighting- it’s something I associate with youngsters on a night out, perhaps wrongly.

I have a lot of respect for SBS, and their exec should not be described as a girl.

"Girls" was used upthread of both the white and black women, but I agree that it has particularly loaded connotations when applied to black women, and we should all be careful to avoid it when talking of adults.

I agree it's unwise to speculate about a case that seems to be on its way to court. But I'm happy to place on record that I have huge respect for Southall Black Sisters but not quite so much these days for the Crown Prosecution Service.

I dont think because it is SBS it should change how an employing group, specifically a charity, should respond to an incident outside work involving one of their employees.

I am not saying they are wrong, but it is highly unusual, but may well have been made after taking legal advice. And of course wanting to show solidarity with a member of staff who clearly states that she and her friends experienced racism

But because it is unusual for a charity so that's why I was asking.

re off duty police. Sorry I am not pro police but it certainly is not their responsibility when off duty to intervene. In fact many professional association specifically say not to intervene even if your employment is one of "public service". This includes those working in the medical profession. They are at risk if something goes wrong of becoming personally liable because they are acting as individuals.

The bigger question is why no one else bothered to intervene.

So anyone who thinks they can fall ill in the street and someone will shout is anyone a doctor and one will happily come forward, wrong. They are more likely to be slipping away so as not to have ordinary civilians like you and me demanding they fulfill their paid employment whilst not in their paid employment. (At the time there was some comment from police that what most of them would have done is move to the next carriage but phone into the local police station / BTP.)

And as said up thread the decision to prosecute would be the CPS.

It almost feels like the off duty police man has become a distraction from the real issue which is the racist attack.

And a particularly nasty racist attack, too. It’s perhaps too easy to forget that kind of overt, blatant aggressive racism, at least where I live and hang out, as I don’t see it.

Not sure how many on this thread are in London but if interested there will be a demonstration on the day of the first hearing 11 April 2024 at 10am.

Also an appeal for witnesses - full info via WPUK at https://womansplaceuk.org/2024/04/04/solidarity-with-selma-taha-and-her-friends/

The Police are only interested in white straight men.

Disgusting that your friends were treated like this OP ,but no surprise to me.

Hopes justice will be served (I doubt it though)

That isn't correct about doctors; we have a professional obligation to provide help in emergencies and we can get in serious trouble with the GMC if we don't. There are thousands of people alive today because off-duty doctors/nurses/paramedics gave them emergency care.

It's also not true that we become personally liable if things go wrong - doctors hold personal medical indemnity/insurance policies and are protected from claims that arise from Good Samaritan acts.

As with the police, though, there have to be reasonable thresholds. I have many times given help to someone who has collapsed or been seriously injured when I'm off duty, but I can't intervene for everyone who looks a bit poorly, or I'd never get anything done.

That isn't correct about doctors; we have a professional obligation to provide help in emergencies and we can get in serious trouble with the GMC if we don't.

Thanks for that. I had got the impression that that wasn't the case from reading articles (not in relation to this case) but about an occassion when a Doctor offered help outside of their work place which didn't end well. Maybe the article was not as factual as I thought, but was a reflection of how some in the medical profession felt.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow I was once very unwell at London Bridge station (near The Pillar Of Controversy, in fact) & was positively swamped by off-duty doctors & nurses. For which I’m very grateful.

PS very reassuring to know that health care professionals are under this obligation! Thanks

(even though I now remember that a doctor who offered help after I was hit by a car some time ago, I then learnt did exactly the wrong thing, so that i had to sit in A&E for hours and hours just in case there were complications! But I was glad to have received a better safe than sorry approach.)

You are right that there are myths around this, and there have certainly been attempts to sue doctors for Good Samaritans acts but, even in the US, they are not successful unless you do something really egregious. There are still some grey areas though, e.g. on planes crossing multiple countries' air space.

For them to be charging the 3 black girls and letting the 1 white girl off

Are all the people involved in this under 18? If not, the word you are looking for is women.

A doctor acquaintance said they immediately have an alcoholic drink when they board a plane so they cannot respond to requests for help. You would think airlines would be grateful and reward those who do help but apparently if they do it may be a cup of tea. If they gave them a discount on their next flight flight or free lounge entry or an upgrade then maybe they'd get more help.

Yup - I helped a patient who had collapsed on a flight (she was eventually fine) and didn't even get a free drink. And this was on an expensive long-haul airline, not Ryanair!

My df got champagne for helping out on a flight. Complete with real glass flutes which they still have.

NOT FAIR!

All three are accused of assault by beating in the central London Underground station on September 29 last year.

Riggon and Thomas were originally also charged with harassment under the Public Order Act.

But during Thursday’s hearing, Thomas’s charge was raised to the more serious offence of racially aggravated harassment contrary to the same Act, which could be tried at a crown court.

The case was adjourned until April 26 at the same court because of the change to the charge and potential judicial review.

Postponing the hearing Neil Taylor, chair of the magistrates’ bench, said “there is an expectation” that magistrates take pleas in the first occasion and that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

He said: “The expectation is (by April 26) there will be clarity in respect of whether a judicial review application has been lodged or not, we also expect on that occasion that defendants could be fully prepared on the changes in charge.”

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2024/04/11/three-women-face-court-charged-with-assault-at-kings-cross-underground-station/

The article is much longer - I just tried to pick out the facts about the legal process. Interestingly as yet local London papers haven't rellly covered this. As far as I can make out the Express and Star if based in Wolverhampton.

Comment article by Rahila Gupta in the i newspaper
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/selma-taha-met-police-reminder-uk-racism-2673467

Can be read in full at https://archive.ph/vVNR0