First published: 24th September 2009
An incident reported by this newsletter four years ago has finally ended, with an apology from the London Police. David Mery, computer and telecoms enthusiast and former editor of EXE was arrested in July 2005 for suspicious behaviour including wearing a rucksack containing a laptop and fiddling with a mobile while waiting for the tube. Since then, he has campaigned for justice, liberty and a critical examination of the "profiling" techniques that led to his arrest. Finally, he has received a letter of apology from the Commander of the Police resonsible, Chief Superintendent Wayne Chance:
I would like to apologise on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service for the circumstances that arose on 28 July 2005 including your unlawful arrest, detention and search of your home. I appreciate this has had a deep and traumatic impact on your lives and I hope that the settlement in this case can bring some closure to this.
I shall ensure that the officers concerned are made aware of the impact of the events of that day and also the details of the settlement in this case.
David Mery also wrote a guide on how innocent people can get their DNA profile deleted from the British Police's National DNA Database (NDNAD).