Dale Semper is suing the Met, claiming damages for ‘lost earnings, psychological harm, false imprisonment, harassment and discrimination’ – Semper News Service
A “high-flying” black bank manager who was caught by police and wrongly accused of a gun crime is suing the Metropolitan Police for £1million.
Dale Semper says that when detectives investigated him on the false suspicion of involvement in the crime, he was deeply traumatized and suffered two years of stress and uncertainty.
During that time, Mr Semper, of Enfield, London, was also suspended from his £72,000-a-year role at Lloyds Bank after his employers learned he was being investigated. The 41-year-old was later allowed to return to work.
Police also searched the home of his partner, HR manager Dennis Huggan, as well as his mother Lynette Semper.
Now Mr Semper – along with Ms Haggan and her mother, who has worked for the NHS for 20 years – are suing the force for almost £1million, and claiming “lost earnings, psychological harm, false imprisonment, trespass and discrimination “Are claiming compensation for.
‘Tense’ two-year investigation
Following a decision in the High Court, the case is set to be heard before a civil court judge sitting alongside an “assessor” who is a specialist in cases involving alleged racial discrimination.
In his claim, Mr Semper said he and Ms Haggan were stopped by police in August 2017 as he was taking her to a train station.
Despite Mr Semper’s protests the officers ordered him out of the car and handcuffed him, even though they had “got the wrong guy”.
He was then taken back to his home, which was searched, while he was made to stand in handcuffs in front of his neighbors outside his own home.
Officers searched his home for guns. After finding no firearms, he told Mr. Semper that he was being investigated for money laundering.
In October 2019 itself, he was informed over phone that the investigation was being closed and no further action would be taken.
Mr Semper’s bank accounts were also frozen and he was required to provide detailed accounts of all the money he spent and earned.
The claimant was ‘singled out’ by the officers
He is suing the Met on a number of grounds – including racial discrimination, wrongful imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misconduct and a breach of data security.
He claims he was singled out by police due to disproportionate “racial profiling”, which the force has denied, and insists there were “reasonable and probable cause” for all of its officers’ actions.
The Met says it was acting on intelligence and although it did not lead to any prosecution, its investigation was justified.
During an earlier hearing, Mr Semper’s barrister Adam Wagner revealed the “high value” case could be worth around £1 million to him and his family.
He said the case involved a claim for substantial loss of earnings, particularly for Mr Semper, whom he said was a “well-paid and relatively young bank employee who suffered serious and potentially serious injury as a result of the alleged unlawful conduct”. “has caused long-term mental injury.” Police action”
“The claim for lost earnings is substantial and will form the bulk of the damages,” he said, adding that there was a claim for “substantial” psychological harm, as well as claims of false imprisonment and discrimination.
Met Police denied liability
But Mr Wagner said that, as well as the money, the family wanted answers as to “why a black man – a businessman and successful bank manager – had to go through what he had to go through”.
The Met’s lawyers deny all liability and say the £1 million claim against him is “aspirational and overzealous”, suggesting Mr Spencer’s career path would have fallen flat anyway.
No date has been set for the trial.
In earlier interviews, Mr. Semper claimed that he would never have been pursued if he had been a white bank manager, and claimed that detectives could not accept that a black man would be a high earner without a criminal background. Could.
Source: uk.finance.yahoo.com
