De-Shaun Joseph: Mum of boy, 14, handcuffed in mistaken identity calls for stop and search changes
Tap above to watch video report by Antoine Allen
The mother of an asthmatic schoolboy handcuffed by police on his way home from school in a case of mistaken identity is calling for stop and search laws to be urgently changed.
De-Shaun Joseph was stopped in June after matching the description of a robbery suspect in Croydon.
The 14-year-old schoolboy was forced to lay face down with one officer kneeling on his legs and another holding his hands behind his back.
The teenager's mother said the law should treat adults and children differently and today asked London's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime to back her campaign.
'Abused by the system'
"We’re pushing for the De-Shaun Joseph Justice Bill which will provide a child-centred approach when it comes to stop and search," Janet Joseph told ITV News.
"Too many children, nameless and faceless, have been abused by the system.
"So we are pushing off the back of what’s happened to DeShaun for change.
"So this Bill would let the Met Police look at a child-centred approach when it comes to stop and search.
"Every time someone messages me and says the video [of him being searched] is on TikTok it’s still emotional, it’s like repeating that day over and over again.
"It’s a traumatic experience for any child to go through," she explained.
'Too many children have been abused by the system...' Janet Joseph told ITV News
Janet Joseph ran to the scene after her son shouted out her phone number to an eyewitness.
Doctors said De-Shaun suffered bruising to his back and was left feeling traumatised by the incident.
Ms Joseph said the new Met Commissioner needed to work quickly to "build bridges" with the black community.
"We’ve has many commissioners and many promises have been made," Janet said.
"They basically need to be building bridges with the black community.
"What we’re saying the De-Shaun Joseph Justice Bill would be a quick fix. We need to put this forward to protect our children from being abused by the police," she added.
London's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden, said she would spend several weeks reviewing the campaign after Monday's meeting.
Janet Joseph added: "We are going to carry on until this Bill is pushed through."
Their campaign has the backing of family advocate and social justice campaigner Simone Frazier.
She said they were calling for something "quite unprecedented".
"Children are being stopped and searched and there’s no differentiation with how adults are stopped and searched," Simone Frazier said.
We are saying there needs to be a child-centred approach to stop and search - never has that been done.
Today’s meeting was all about that, bring the De-shaun Joseph Justice Bill to the Deputy Mayor and saying we want you to back this Bill and support it all the way.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
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