Freedom of information request reveals that Met also spent £140,000 in costs while settling claims by detainees
The Metropolitan police has paid out more than £250,000 in damages to people arrested in connection with the G20 protests in London in 2009, the bulk of it to 66 activists held during a controversial raid on a squatted building.
Information obtained under a freedom of information request by a member of the public shows the force settled 66 civil claims relating to a raid by dozens of officers on a disused three-storey office building near Liverpool Street in the City of London on 2 April 2009. Activists had occupied the building a couple of days before.
The police paid out £237,000 in damages - an average of about £3,500 per person - and incurred almost £140,000 in costs. The compensation related to claims of false imprisonment and arrest. The information was published on a freedom of information website and confirmed by the Met.
A final payout following a claim of assault involving excessive force, connected to another incident at the G20 protests, saw police pay the victim £30,000 in compensation, incurring £50,000 in costs.
It marks further embarrassment for police over the handling of the G20 demonstrations.
Much criticism has concerned the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper vendor who, an inquest jury decided last week, was unlawfully killed after a Met riot officer pushed him and struck him with a baton.
The Guardian has now revealed that initial evidence of what happened to Tomlinson was held back from the police watchdog, the media and the dead man's family. However, at the time of the protests there were also wider complaints about heavy-handed and sometimes violent policing.
Police put on a show of force when they raided the squat in Earl Street, using a battering ram to break down the door before leading out about 70 occupants, many in handcuffs.
The operation was intended to round up people police believed might have been involved in trouble during the main G20 protests the previous day. At the time, some of those held complained about excessive violence, saying officers punched some squatters and carried Taser guns even though no resistance was offered.