Charges have been dropped against a teenager who was severely injured after being “pushed from a bicycle” while being arrested by a Metropolitan Police officer.
At around 9pm on November 22, police officers tried to detain 15-year-old Terrell Decosta Jones-Burton following reports of a mobile phone robbery in Bermondsey.
The teenage cyclist “came off his bike” during the arrest and suffered serious injuries , which reportedly included bruising on the brain, a broken gum and missing teeth.
On Friday (January 12), a spokesman from Met Police told getwestlondon that the charges against the 15-year-old have now been dropped.
Police under scrutiny
A probe launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which found the teenager was pushed off his bike in Southwark Park Road, is still ongoing.
In a statement made on November 27, IPCC associate commissioneer Tom Milsom said: “Understandably, concerns have been raised within the community about how this teenager came by his injuries."
He added: “I want to assure everybody that our independent investigation will rigorously examine the evidence we gather, to establish what took place.
“We have established that the teenager was pushed from his bicycle by a police officer who was in the area responding to reports of the theft of a mobile phone.”
Speaking after the incident, Terrell's mother Shereen Jones called for justice for her son, who lives in South Bermondsey.
“He has no criminal record and no involvement with the police,” Ms Jones wrote on social media.
“On his way to the hospital, in the ambulance, he had a seizure – it has been confirmed that he has bruising on the brain and the bone inside the gum has been broken."
She continued: “The police are accusing Terrell of the robbery of a mobile phone.
"Was all of this necessary over a phone? Police brutality on young black boys has to stop.”
An IPCC investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
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