Image Text:

SEEKING JUSTICE: Jenny with some of the petition sheets

A PETITION signed by more than 700 people has convinced West Midlands Police to investigate claims that the force committed unlawful entry, criminal damage, brutality and racial abuse against a Black Country woman.

The signatories, reportedly gathered in just four hours, include people who claim to have witnessed Jenny Cooper – a 58-year-old former hospital care assistant – being kicked, punched and racially assaulted on Thompson Avenue, Wolverhampton, not far from her home, by two people who appeared to be police officers in 2010.

Shortly after, she was arrested on charges that were later dropped. Mrs Cooper, a former ward council candidate, has since required medical treatment for life-limiting injuries and incontinence following the incident and has been unable to return to work.

Mrs Cooper’s subsequent attempts to take legal action against the police over this incident, as part of an alleged campaign of harassment before and since, were hampered by a lack of funds.

STRATEGY
Her case has now been taken up by the local branch of Stand Up To Racism.

The national campaign group adopted the strategy of creating a petition and were able to broker a meeting with the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, who has ordered an investigation.

“Stand Up To Racism opposes all forms of racism, and is active at national and local levels,” said the organisation’s Dave Wyatt.

“Jenny contacted us about 18 months ago and made us aware of the assault on her by the police in 2010. She told us how she had fought from that day on to get justice for herself, taking on the legal system with absolutely no money to get representation.

BEARING THE SCARS: Jenny Cooper has required a wheelchair and walking stick since the 2010 incident

“We are working with Jenny now to protest her case for justice and the petitions to support her plus the meeting with the West Midlands Police Commissioner are the first steps to win justice for her. It is absolutely amazing how Jenny has kept going in the face of police harassment of herself, and her spirit to resist where many might have given up is an inspiration to us all.”

Paulette White lives near to Mrs Cooper and claims to have witnessed the 2010 incident unfold.

“I was looking out of my window and saw two people – a male and a shortish woman – in black clothing following her down the street,” she recalls.

“When she stepped up the pace, so did they. I thought, ‘that doesn’t look right’. My then-husband was looking out from upstairs and said ‘it looks like she’s being followed by the police’.

“We know she’d had a lot of problems with them.

“They’ve constantly been on her all the b*****y case. I went out and followed on the opposite side of the road. He followed later.

“One of the officers karate-kicked her in her back and she landed on the grass outside her mother’s house. Jenny was on her way there to bring her a few things. They kicked her, they battered her. It was brutal.

SHOUTING
“It lasted about 20 minutes. More officers came. You would have thought it was a flipping riot. There were cars and sirens. There were a good amount of people there – could have been about 50 – including young people shouting to the police ‘you’re out of order.’

“My then-husband came out, too. He went over and he was grabbed in the chest after asking the police, ‘how would you like someone to treat your wife like that?’ I told them to let him go because ‘I can see what they are doing and can describe you’.

“Her head was hit against the frame of the car door as they put her in the car with her hands handcuffed behind her back. I was very concerned for her well-being.

Before this, Jenny was a strong healthy woman, working and looking after her grandkids.”

An unknown witness took a photo of the incident showing Mrs Cooper being handcuffed on the ground and posted it through her letterbox.

Medical reports provided for The Voice show Mrs Cooper being affected by “chronic pain, needing to use walking sticks and a wheelchair at times, in addition to requiring daily medication” as well as psychological issues such as depression and post-traumatic flashbacks, plus “urinary/bowel issues, can be incontinent at times, breast haematoma and dental issues”.

A Unison welfare officer and council worker who has given court evidence for Jenny on a number of occasions since, White added: “This is institutionalised racism.

“No one should be treated like this, whatever your colour, whether male or female. The police are there to protect us.

PICTURED: West Midlands Police Chief
Constable David Thompson

“They think they can treat people however they want to.” “Jenny was on her way to her mother’s house,” said another source, who did not want to be named for fear of police reprisals.

“When I got off the bus, I heard and saw the commotion. “When I got nearer, I saw someone lying on the floor and realised it was Jen. There were two coppers standing over her.

“She was just lying there like she was dead. People were shouting, trying to get the people off her. “I called out to her but there was no response. I think it’s disgusting, it’s an abuse of power.

“The police should be targeting real criminals and not terrorise her.”

It has been alleged that the issues stemmed from Jenny’s son being sentenced for sexually abusing a woman who subsequently became involved with an officer from Staffordshire Police, which has no jurisdiction in Wolverhampton.

It is also alleged that at least one officer from the neighbouring force had visited Mrs Cooper’s home in plain clothes and was involved in the altercation prior to her arrest.

In his statement, Wyatt records 11 occasions that police have appeared at Mrs Cooper’s home with dogs, tasers and firearms, and produced a warrant only once.

PICTURED: Jenny Cooper and Dave Wyatt present evidence to the PCC

“We the undersigned demand West Midlands Police Commissioner David Jamieson investigates and stops the racist police harassment of Jenny and her family immediately,” reads the petition.

“According to the complaints the police say they have received, Jenny is a drug dealer, has got arms in the house which her 80-year-old mother is sleeping over, you would think the police would put two and two together and recognise that these are malicious complaints that are being made, and investigate that rather than harass the family and Jenny.”

West Midlands Police Chief Constable David Thompson replied: “We have received a number of complaints over the years in relation to the matter which has been investigated by the force’s Professional Standards Department or have come under the oversight of the IPCC [Independent Police Complaints Commission – now defunct]. “Those complaints have been exhausted and not upheld.

“Clearly, as with any matter relating to police conduct, there are a number of issues that have been described in the statements that have been made, it’s our responsibility as it is with the new Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate them, so if there are any issues that should be drawn to the force’s specific attention we will investigate them or refer them to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”

ACCOUNT
In welcoming the chief constable’s response on a panel, Commissioner David Jamieson added: “My job is to hold the police to account on behalf of the public in the West Midlands.

“Be assured that if there are accusations of racism, they are always looked into with great care and it is something we take very seriously.”

With his newly appointed deputy Ashley Bertie seated on his left, Jamieson added: “I have also done a lot of work with the force to make sure it looks a bit more like the people of the West Midlands, with recruitment.

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: Police Commissioner David Jamieson, left, and his deputy Ashley Bertie

“So we are doing a lot to change the face of the force in various ways, and you can see around this table that diverse communities are represented, which is an assurance that we do take these issues very seriously.”

White commented: “I welcome the investigation but to be honest, I don’t hold out much hope because these people protect their own – this has been going on for 10 years. I’ve been to court so many times, and even been told by a judge that I didn’t see what I saw.”

No timescale was given on when the investigation should be completed nor an official order submitted to the Police and Crime Commissioner.