A black executive who sued the Metropolitan police for £1m has told of the “bitter-sweet moment” of reaching a settlement with the force after alleging that he was racially profiled.
Dale Semper was pulled over in his car by police officers in August 2017 and wrongly accused of involvement in gun crime, something he said had a devastating impact on his job as a bank manager, his finances and his mental health.
The force has not admitted liability but said in a statement on Tuesday that “some elements of this case were not handled as well as they could have been”.
Semper was handcuffed in front of neighbours while his car and home were searched for firearms. He was later suspended from his £72,000-a-year job at Lloyds Bank. Police also searched the homes of his partner and mother during an investigation that finally ended in 2019.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing, but he and his family then brought a £1m damages claim against Scotland Yard, alleging racial discrimination, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misfeasance and breach of data protection.
Semper said on Tuesday: “Seven years after the unjustified search of my and my family’s home, and the intrusive steps taken afterwards, the Met … has finally apologised for its officers’ conduct and settled my and my family’s civil claims.
“We remain convinced that the actions taken against me were motivated by racism, both conscious and unconscious.”
He added: “This is a bitter-sweet moment, as although I feel some justice has been done, my and my family’s lives have been torn apart by the unjustified actions of the police, and the extreme delays in responding to our complaints, which, disgracefully, remain ongoing seven years after the events.”
Holborn Adams solicitors, which represented Semper and his family, added that the police had also agreed to reinvestigate parts of the complaints from Semper and his family that were initially dismissed.
Semper said that he hoped lessons from the case would assist in the stated intention of its commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to make the force “truly anti-racist”. The family said they would now welcome an invitation by Rowley to discuss how they were treated.
In a statement issued by the force as part of the settlement, a senior Met officer said on Tuesday they had settled a civil claim brought by Semper and members of his family relating to events between 2017 and 2019 that ended with no further action being taken.
The deputy assistant commissioner, Stuart Cundy, added in the statement: “We stand by the necessity to act following information that was received, but accept some elements of this case were not handled as well as they could have been and we apologise for the impact that has had on the complainants.”
“The Metropolitan police has already apologised during the complaints procedure for certain comments which were made by officers during the investigation and reiterates that apology.”
Lawyers likened Semper’s experience to the 1998 action film Enemy of the State, in which the lead character played by Will Smith has his life turned upside down by authorities without explanation or cause.
Semper and his partner, Denise Huggan, told the Guardian in 2020 how they believed the 26-month investigation was driven by racial profiling and about the impact that it had on the family when they were pulled over by the police.
“They rushed up to the car, banging on the window, shouting: ‘Get out, get out of the car.’ They handcuffed me. They said they were arresting me – I said: ‘For what? You got the wrong guy’,” Semper recalled.
