• South Wales Police have taken a young Cardiff man to court for shining a phone light on a police officer at a Justice For Mohamud protest earlier this year.
• Mohamud Hassan died after being detained by Cardiff police back in January 2021. He told several witnesses he had been physically assaulted by cops.
• The young man was handed a fine of £159 – to be taken from his Universal Credit payments – by Cardiff Magistrates Court on Tuesday after the prosecutor revealed how police nick activists through “retroactive investigations”.
Image, people protest against the police crackdown on protest, Cardiff, by Tom Davies
A young man accused of shining a light at an officer during a protest against police brutality has been handed a fine of £159 in Cardiff Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Michael W, 19, stood in court accused of two counts of obstructing a South Wales Police (SWP) officer during a #Justice4Mohamud demonstration in Cardiff earlier this year. One of the counts of obstructing an officer was immediately withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service.
voice.wales has decided not to print the young man’s real name, but Mark Redfern attended Cardiff Magistrates Court for the trial on Tuesday.
Michael, from Splott, pleaded guilty to the remaining charge that occurred January 14 during a peaceful 200-strong protest, resulting in a fine of £159 to be deducted from his Universal Credit payments.
After the trial, Michael’s mother Claire spoke to voice.wales and said that her son was initially charged with common assault on a police officer – referred to by the police themselves as an emergency worker – for the same incident of shining a torch. They were told by their solicitor that he could face up to three years in prison.
The 19 year-old was accused by the state prosecution of shining a phone torch on PC Williams at around 5pm during the protest and was later identified by body-worn video (BWV) cameras and arrested.
A second count of the same charge was alleged by an officer identified as PC Wilson, but this was withdrawn by the Crown immediately at the start of proceedings.
Nathan Jones, representing the defendant, told the court that shining a light on the cop “wasn’t a deliberate attempt to stop someone getting arrested or stop an assault” but that Michael was trying to film the police and it was a dark evening which required extra light.
“He didn’t offer any violence, he didn’t offer any threats,” his solicitor told the court.
Michael was identified on BWV at the scene by his blue North Face camo jacket. Police accosted him later at his house and identified the same jacket hanging over a bannister, after which cops asked Michael to attend an interview. He confirmed the jacket was his and answered “no comment” to all other questions at the station.
The prosecution told the court that the phone light caused PC Williams “temporary blindness” and that the large crowd of people had made the police officers armed with truncheons on duty that evening “uncomfortable”.
The CPS also tried to conflate the very specific charges against Michael with the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, telling the presiding judge that “there was huge demand on the NHS at this time”.
The solicitor representing South Wales Police also pointed out that people in the crowd protesting against cop brutality “were reluctant to follow police advice.”
Jones, representing the defendant, asked that the judgement “acknowledge that [Michael] comes to the court of clean character” and to give him “credit for a guilty plea and for having no prior convictions against him.” It was also reiterated that PC Williams had admitted that the defendant was not verbally hostile towards him during the incident.
Despite having no criminal trouble in his past, social services had called Michael’s mother after the police came to her home and aggressively questioned her about taking Michael and his younger sister to a peaceful protest.
The case was quickly closed but questions remain over how the social care staff had somehow been tipped off on the private police investigation.
The mother also told voice.wales in a previous interview that she believes police are deliberately seeking to intimidate people away from protesting: “That’s what they want people to be. They want people to be scared and not to go there. That’s obviously what their plan is, you know what I mean?” she said.
The fine comes on the back of other BLM protesters also having faced prosecution by South Wales Police after attending the Mohamud Hassan protests. As the same time, the crackdown on the right to protest has intensified with the passing of the authoritarian Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill by the UK Government. The new laws that make it easier to criminalise protesters will apply in Wales.
Comments by the prosecution also reveal how Cardiff cops avoided stoking the anger of the demonstrators by nicking activists quietly after they had returned home.
The Crown said that the protest was peaceful but alleged that “some [activists] were looking to incite violence”, yet admitted that no arrests were made for violence or otherwise.
Police had, however, deployed surveillance teams to “evidence-gather for retroactive investigations”, victims of which have spoken to voice.wales about being pulled from their beds weeks after their alleged crimes had occurred and put in a police van.
A man scooped up in the reprisal raids, also for shining a phone light on a cop, said: “[T]he other day I was arrested by South Wales Police and I was dragged out of my bed. I was actually raided when six plainclothes officers came to my house.”
“They forcefully enter my room. Like I’m not a criminal. I’m actually a businessman. I’ve got an up-coming business and sell shoes. And these guys have come into my room acting like I’m Pablo Escobar.”
The anonymous activist also added that his accuser was called PC Wilson, the same name as one of Michael’s accusers prior to the charge being withdrawn on the day of the trial. A court summons seen by voice.wales also mentions a “PC Williams and PC Wilson” as “constables [obstructed] in the execution of their duties.”
Meanwhile, a number of officers who had contact with Mohamud Hassan during his arrest and detainment have been given notices to tell them their actions are being investigated by the IOPC. T
But back in February voice.wales learned, despite dodged questions, the cops involved with Mohamud’s death, including those issued with conduct notices, are still working the streets.
Since the death of Mohamud, it remains the case that the only people to be punished in connection with the case have been those seeking justice for the family.
Black Lives Matter Cardiff and Vale told voice.wales: “The cops blatant prioritization of arresting and in some cases charging, innocent protesters for shining torches in their direction, over holding themselves accountable over their own conduct, is as expected as it is shameful.”
“The fact remains, a young Black man died after contact with South Wales Police, and yet the police remain less than forthcoming in their cooperation with the investigation or the community.”
“Instead, they continue to harass and target ethnic minorities, a trend that led to the death of Mohamud in the first place.”
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