Police who stopped black MP Dawn Butler 'didn't see who was inside car because of tinted windows' as top cop hits back

THE Met has defended stopping Labour MP Dawn Butler in a car – saying they didn't know the occupants were black because it had tinted windows.

Ms Butler, former shadow equalities minister, filmed the confrontation with cops who pulled over her black friend while she was in the car as they drove through Hackney, east London, on Sunday.


She accused the Metropolitan Police of being "institutionally racist" after she was pulled over.

But Scotland Yard's deputy commissioner Sir Steve House today hit back and blamed "human error" saying the coppers didn't see who was in the car when they pulled it over – as the windows were tinted.

He said the officers, who were part of the Met's Violent Crime Task Force, had checked the number plates but entered the reg in the search incorrectly by mistake – so it showed up another vehicle.

Out of "professional curiosity", they decided to pull it over and check it out.

Sir Steve said: "Criminals often use vehicles to travel in and to commit crime, therefore officers will often check cars to see if there is anything that requires them to stop it and do further checks.

"The officers ran a number plate check on the vehicle. At this stage, the officers still didn’t know who the occupants of the car were, including their ethnicity because the car windows were tinted.

"As a result of an officer making a human error as he inputted the car registration, the Police National Computer returned details of a car from another part of the UK.

"The officers were not initially aware of this problem and as a result felt, with good reason, that they should do further checks on the car by stopping it and engaging with the occupants."

He added Ms Butler said she had no complaints about how the officer's acted during the stop, but the stop itself.

But the deputy commissioner said he agreed with the reasoning behind the stop, as the number plate error was not known.

In his statement, Sir Steve also slammed the "trial by social media" of both Ms Butler and the officers.

'HUMAN ERROR'

Earlier this week Boris Johnson weighed in, saying the police must act with "fairness and equality" after the incident.

The Prime Minister said the Metropolitan Police had acknowledged the intervention was the result of a mistake and said the force had to "continue to do everything that they can" to show they were serving "every part of our community".

His comments came after the MP for Brent Central in North London, who had been in the passenger seat, claimed the officers had stopped the car on Sunday and demanded to know what was in the back.

Ms Butler had earlier said she was left "irritated and angry" by the stop and search and accused the Metropolitan Police of being "institutionally racist".

In the footage obtained by Sky News, the MP can be heard telling the police officer she was "concerned about the reason for the stop".

Ms Butler said: "If you are profiling people who are driving a certain type of car that's an inappropriate reason to stop anyone and if you are profiling people because of the colour of their skin that's an inappropriate reason."

One of the officers can then be heard saying: "I appreciate everything you say and I do apologise for wasting your time."

Ms Butler told Sky News she was "angry and annoyed" about what happened and claimed the Metropolitan Police has a "cancerous" problem with institutional racism.

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She added: "We were stopped because we're two black people driving in a nice car in Hackney."

It comes a month after former Olympic champion Linford Christie said two of his athletes were detained in handcuffs outside their home.

Commonwealth gold medallist sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner Portuguese sprinter partner Ricardo dos Santos had been driving home from race training when they were pulled over by cops and handcuffed in front of their three-month-old baby.


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