IOPC clears armed police who arrested 13-year-old playing with water pistol

Campaigners condemn watchdog ruling and say the incident in Hackney, east London, ‘traumatised’ the boy

The actions of armed police who surrounded and arrested a 13-year-old boy after an officer mistook his water pistol for a real gun were “reasonable in the circumstances”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

The boy suffered soft-tissue injuries after he was rammed off his bike by a police van and handcuffed as he was confronted by marksmen in Hackney, east London, in July last year.