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Mr Williamson and his family immediately contacted the police, not least as they were concerned that the two robberies might be linked. The response Mr Williamson received from the officer assigned to investigate the crime and his supervising officers was deeply inadequate. The Williamsons were particularly concerned that Gareth was not being treated as a reliable witness purely as a result of his mild learning difficulties and notwithstanding that his account was confirmed by witnesses in the pub and CCTV. Mr Williamson reported his concerns to Northamptonshire Police’s internal watch dog, the Professional Standards Department, who initially failed to respond to his complaint and took no steps to arrange for his attackers to be apprehended. This left Mr Williamson with no choice except to instruct solicitors to begin legal proceedings against the Chief Constable for disability discrimination and breaches of the Human Rights Act at Central London County Court in October 2007. The Professional Standards Department later partially upheld Mr Williamson’s complaint in August 2008.

In response to civil claim the Chief Constable has finally acknowledged that the investigation into the April robbery was “poor” and that the police “did not give Mr Williamson the service we should have done”. The Chief Constable has also accepted that “failings in the investigation” were not picked up by senior officers and “this failure allowed a poor investigation to continue”. In recognition of this but without making any formal admission of liability, the Chief Constable has agreed to pay Mr Williamson £20,000 in damages and £50,000 on account of costs. The full amount of costs has yet to be decided.

Mr Williamson’s solicitor, Tony Murphy of Bhatt Murphy solicitors said:

A high court judge has this week approved an out of court settlement in which the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, has admitted that his officers assaulted and false imprisoned five protestors during a lawful protest outside an Embassy in London on 30 October 2006. The protestors issued a claim against the Metropolitan Police at the High Court in 2007 and the Commissioner took the unusual step of formally admitting legal liability in the face of overwhelming evidence that his officers had abused their position.

The Commissioner has agreed to pay the protestors £85,000 in damages plus costs, which will bring the total figure to over £100,000.

The protestors’ solicitor Tony Murphy of Bhatt Murphy said as follows:

“What we are seeing, not least with G20 clients, is a culture of violence within the police and the systemic abuse of protestors’ rights. This case shows that if the police do not make a retreat from coercive policing, the cost to public confidence and to the public purse will be devastating.”