Kuda Chingwaro

This is so heartbreaking; He's just a kid. The pain in his voice is evident. This is institutional racism in action. Daryl McLune, 16 at the time, was arrested in Wandsworth in July 2021 on suspicion of attempted murder after his mum, Annette McLune, jumped from the roof of their flat in a suicide attempt. He'd been at his grandma's and cycled home to find his mum critically injured. He was then handcuffed in the street and held for nearly 24 hours, despite not being involved. Police later found a suicide note and razor blades showing it was self-harm, and he was released without charge. The experience left him with PTSD and affected his schooling. He later sued the Met Police, and a jury found he was racially discriminated against and treated less fairly than a non-Black boy would have been, awarding him £130,000. His barrister said it wasn't careful policing, it was a child in crisis being wrongly treated as a suspect, and that discrimination can be unconscious.