elliot statement

7/25/2019 Elliot Statement

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This is the personal statement of Elliot James Meredith, written to capture the horrific events that

occurred whilst in Police custody:

On Sunday January 17th, myself, Dan Rollinson, Ben Merritt, Alex Burchill, Yasmine Williams andJosh Snell, were all leaving a work colleagues house party at 6 Avenue Brugman where we had

been since 11pm that evening. Having decided to get some food and go home, we left the house at

approximately 02.45am and immediately upon opening the front door, two police officers (Officer 1

and Officer 2 ) were stood outside and wanted to know what was going on inside and who ownded

the property, to which we replied it was a party and Ben would go and get the owner. I continued to

walk up the street towards the Tandoori Village but Dan and Ben remained behind appearing to be

talking with the police officers still at the door. I returned to the group at which point we all left to

walk up to the take away leaving the police at the door of the party.

Whilst in Tandoori Village ordering our food, two police cars pulled up outside and initially 3 police

men ran into the establishment and without saying anything they body tackled Dan down to the

floor smashing his head on the floor in the process. The owner of the establishment witnessed this

incident in apparent disbelief and appeared to try and make a phone call. With Dan on the floor

they violently kicked and punched him while attaching handcuffs. One officer then said what

sounded like, le grande homme aussi at which point Ben having seen the violence of the first

arrest simply put his arms out ready and was handcuffed without violence. They were dragged

outside of the takeaway and put into police cars. At this point myself, Alex, Yasmine and Josh were

on the street asking them why they had been arrested and what was going on, to which we got no

reply. Alex had been videoing the incident at which point Officer 2 approached Alex grabbed hisphone and started to delete all the recordings Alex had made. I again asked Officer 2 why they

were getting arrested and why he was deleting the video - he then physically and aggressively

pushed me back with both his hands, an action that instinctively made me lift my own arms to

brush his hands off me. What appeared to be about three other officers then approached me and

tried to manhandle me to the floor. I resisted this by bracing my body at first, as I had seen how

brutal they had been with Dan and did not want to receive the same treatment. However, I was

tackled by officers 2,2 and 4, I was forceably pinned up against a doorway slightly to the left of the

entrance to the takeaway when Officer 5 then approached and proceeded to punch me directly in

the face with a blow that I thought had broken my nose. I blanked out for a second and they

smashed my head onto the floor at which point I was handcuffed and held down. As if this restraint

was not enough, Officer 4 knelt his full weight on my skull so it was pushing against the pavement

and has caused significant bruising and swelling beneath my hair line on the left hand side of my

skull. He continued to do this for what seemed like several minutes until the third police car came

round and they further man handled me into the back seat. At no point during them putting

handcuffs on me outside the takeaway did anyone say what I was being arrested for or why they

had been so violent without any provocation. On the journey to the police station Officer 4 sat in the

back seat with me punching me repeatedly in the ribs and jaw and slapping me in the face until we

arrived at the Poste de Police station Saint Gilles.

Officers 4 and 2 dragged me from the car whilst I was crying in pain and fear and they laughed at

me and told me to shut my mouth. They walked me past the cells and through into a small office


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space in the back of the building where officers 1,3,5 were waiting for me. I was stood up against

the wall with my handcuffs still tightly bound, all five officers then each took it in turn to punch me in

my face. I was so scared, the people I had always been brought up to believe are there to help you

and protect you were physically assaulting me and I had no one to protect me. I thought they were

going to kill me. I was crying and pleading for them to stop but they continued for another few

minutes. I was cowering up against the wall on my right hand side so all the blows I took hit the leftside of my face. They then took my handcuffs off and tried to make me fight Officer 4 which i

refused to do. I was shaking with fear, bleeding from my nose and face and I refused to be goaded

into a fight despite officer 4 landing several more punches on me in the process.

Finally they stopped and asked me where I lived and what was doing in Brussels. They then

searched me in the office during which Officer 3 groped my penis and testicles with his right hand.

I was then dragged again with my arms in the air, behind my back and my head almost touching

my toes. Bundled into the car and they said they were taking me to the hospital to get a checkup.

Officer 3 then giggled to himself and showed his colleague the painful handcuff position he had put

me in allowing no movement in my wrists and leaving painful bruising marks on both wrists.

On the journey from the police station to the hospital - I was sat on my hands, the front passenger

seat wedged back into my groin so I was unable to move my legs and the forearm of Officer 3 who

sat beside me on the back seat, jammed across my neck pushing my face against the window and

significantly restricting my breathing to the point I thought I was going to suffocate. They went

round several left hand turns and each time they would laugh as it allowed him to put more

pressure on my throat as he exaggerated his swing across the car with each left turn, something

which physically stopped me breathing on numerous occasions throughout the journey. I was

gasping for air and unable to move. I was sobbing throughout, afraid for my life and fearful of whatwas coming next. Officer 3 then kept making me repeat I am a little girl, I am a little girl after each

time he asked me what are you?

At one point in the car I asked wether they were trying to kill me and Officer 3 and he replied yes

while dragging me with head almost touching the floor he was pressing on my wrist veins with his

thumb.

On arriving at Hpital Molire Longchamp - 207 Rue Marconi, Forest, Brussels, they then

continued to jab me and slap me as they pulled me out of the vehicle and drag me into the back of

the hospital. While we were waiting for the doctors I was told I was not allowed to look up or speak

to them however in my state of fear and shock I did ask Officer 3 whether he was a human being

and how could he do this to anyone to which he repliedno, I am a robot.

As we went in to meet the doctors they stopped the violence and threats and acted like nothing had

happened, I sat on the chair with the two policemen to the left hand side of me. I was so afraid and

scared to talk - I was looking directly into the eyes of the doctors to try and express my fear so they

could see how distraught I was. I speak little French so I couldn't understand a word of what they

were saying, in the hospital the the officers changed personality and acted calm and sensible with

the Doctor. I asked them to all speak english so i could understand what was being said but the twoofficers continued to speak in french about my injuries but the Doctor did speak to me in English.


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The doctor checked over my face, feeling my cheek bones and nose for a breakages. The injuries

left by the offciers were clear to see without me having to mention it to the doctor. She said

everything was okay and brought in a male doctor who and then asked wether I wanted to make a

formal complaint about the two officers right there or i could come back in the morning to make

one, obviously given I was still in their custody and didnt know what other beatings they had in

store for me, I simply shook my head. I also asked the two officers for a sip of water in the hospitalthey just laughed at me and were confused about the word sip. I was given what looked like two

painkillers by the doctor. They took no notes or case reports I was simply taken away as though

the visit had never occurred.I was then bundled back into the back of the vehicle and they repeated

the torture in the car on the way back from the hospital, this time though I wasn't allowed to make a

sound so I was gasping for breath and he just pushed on my neck harder. The same process was

followed with jabs to my jaw and ribs during the trip back to the station as well as the time I was

being dragged through the station and back to the office.

What appeared to be a Senior Officer then entered the room at which point I was praying that this

nightmare was going to end, however he made me get on my knees in front of the other 5

assembled officers and he told me exactly what I was going to say on my statement and that I

pushed an officer over. He told me that that officer had ended up in hospital. They knew and I knew

this was just a lie to cover up what they had done to me, my face now dripping with blood and my

eyes were swelling up. He then said if i don't write this I will be going back to the hospital but for an

hour this time - obviously I nodded my head and said yes sir like he had commanded me to. I then

returned to looking at the floor in silence, whimpering in pain. Officer 2 then shoutedwhat are

you? and I had to repeatIm a little girl he then said that he couldn't hear me so I had to repeat I

am a little girl even louder for everyone to laugh at. The senior officer then said that he didn't like

liars and that if I explained exactly what I did on my statement they wouldn't hit me anymore. Theybullied me into a fake confession, I just wanted to get out of there and away from Belgium.

I was slapped and dragged back towards the cells where they took me to a smaller alcove on the

left. I was forced to strip down to my boxers and then shoved into a cell and my clothes thrown in

afterwards. While I was in my cell Dan was trying to communicate with me and Ben - this didn't end

well as i heard them open Dans door, the voice of officer 3 telling him to shut up and then they

dragged him out into the corridor to beat him, I guess as the cell had cameras. I had to listen to

Dan crying and whimpering as they were smacking him with what sounded like a heavy object. I

presume he was then taken to the offices for a beating and then I heard he crying as they dragged

him out of what sounded like the door that we had entered through at the side of the police station.

After some time I heard him arrive back and he was still crying and whimpering, they took him past

y cell and to the alcove where they had kept all of our belongings - they then continued to beat him

for approximately 10 minutes before putting him back in his cell. I didnt hear any noise from him

after this, I was scared that they had knocked him out.

Some time later they opened my cell door and showed me through back to the office where a

Woman Officer was standing, Officer 2 walked in and giggled to Officer 1 and muttered putain. He

was laughing at the amount my face had swollen up and there was dry blood all over my face. The

woman officer looked at me like it was all my fault and I had got what i deserved. They both sat inthe office while I was processed by officer 1. The female officer was watching over me and asked

why I did what I did and at first I didn't reply because i had not done anything. A male officer asked


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me for a reply, by this point i was so afraid and scared that i said that it was automatic reaction to

brush the officers hands off me. They bullied me into thinking that I had done something wrong

even though I knew I had not done anything. She saidyou will never forget this experience will

you I repliedI can agree with that she seemed to be unaware of what has been going on while

the two policemen who drove me to the hospital were smirking to themselves in the background.

After officer 1 took my fingerprints they took my photo against the wall they had beaten me on first

arriving. I was then shown back to my cell where I sat for a further 20 minutes before being shown

to my things, had to sign three french papers that they said confirmed that I had entered the police

station, I had got my things back and at approximately 05.00am left the station. Morning police

officers were starting to arrive and were looking at the three of us in shock - obviously wondering

what we had got into on the previous evening.

Descriptions of the officers involved:

Officer 1 - 6.1ft,slim,30s,skinhead

Officer 2 - 5.9ft, stocky, glasses,rabbit teeth,bald

Officer 3 - 6.1ft,thin,40s,almost hairless,greyish stubble

Officer 4 - 5.9ft,stocky,glasses,dark hair,late 20s

Officer 5 - 5.10ft,overweight,50s,greyish stubble and almost bald

Senior Officer - 5.10ft,thin,late 30s, dark hair

Woman Officer - 5,8ft thin,longish brown hair,fringe, early 30s

elliot statement

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