Sex Education star Reece Richards has claimed he was ‘pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground’ on September 4 when walking back from appearing in West End musical Hairspray.
Sex Education star Reece Richards has claimed he was ‘pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground’ on September 4 when walking back from appearing in West End musical Hairspray.
WARNING: Confronting content
Raw footage has captured the moment a Netflix star was allegedly kicked, thrown to the ground, pepper-sprayed and racially profiled by Metropolitan Police in Fulham, London, during a “wrongful arrest” in front of his crying mother.
Sex Education actor Reece Richards was returning home from performing in Hairspray the Musical when he witnessed a car crash on September 4.
As the drama unfolded, he saw three men jump out of the vehicle and run as police officers gave chase.
However, as Richards tried to help police by telling them which way the offenders ran, he was wrongly mistaken as one of the suspects.
Sex Education star Reece Richards has claimed he was ‘pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground’ on September 4 when walking back from appearing in West End musical Hairspray.
In a statement on Instagram, Richards detailed the event, writing he has “heard stories about incidents like this, but I never imagined it would happen to me.”
“I shouted, ‘he ran down there, officer’, and pointed out the direction they had fled. Despite hearing me, the officer shouted that I was under arrest and demanded I get on the ground.
“I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal. Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but one officer yelled, ‘Get to the floor or I’ll pepper spray you’.
“They pepper-sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground, and handcuffed me.
“In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground.
“I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs, and stomach.”
‘I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear my mum nearby, screaming and crying, begging them to let me go.”
Reece Richards, who played Eugene on the hit Netflix show Sex Education, accused the Metropolitan Police of 'racial profiling' after wrongly arresting him during an incident on September 4.
Richards called out to his mother to contact well-known TV host and Hairspray director Brenda Edwards. Within 20 minutes Edwards arrived at the scene where Richards claims the “officers’ attitude shifted” before releasing him.
In a statement on Richards’ social media post, Metropolitan Police admitted they arrested the wrong person and that they “de-arrested” Richards as soon as they confirmed he wasn’t one of the suspects.
“Officers often find themselves in dynamic, challenging situations and have to make split-second judgments on which course of action to take.
“In this video, which shows part of the situation, officers had been pursuing three men who had run out of a car that had crashed in Fulham Palace Rd after it failed to stop for police. The man shown in the footage was de-arrested as soon as it was established by officers at the scene that he was not involved.
“A complaint has been received in relation to his arrest. This is currently being assessed by officers from the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), along with other material including the officers’ body worn video footage.”
Reece Richards posted a statement on Instagram regarding the incident where he was wrongly arrested.
The whole ordeal has left Richards shaken, saying the whole incident was “embarrassing, deeply upsetting, and exhausting”.
“It has left me questioning everything I thought I knew about justice. Suddenly, my understanding of right and wrong feels completely upended.
“I do everything I can to avoid interactions with the police, yet this experience has made it painfully clear that racial profiling remains a significant issue.”
Richards has called for “accountability” for how he was treated and explained he chose to speak out to raise awareness that incidents “like this are still happening”.
