Tasered race relations adviser mistaken by police again for wanted man

Judah Adunbi was tasered by police after being mistaken for wanted suspect Mr McCall in January 2017

A race relations adviser tasered in the face by an officer has been mistaken by police again for the same wanted man.

Police stopped Judah Adunbi on 17 October because they mistook him for Royston McCalla who is suspected of a grievous bodily harm (GBH) offence.

PC Claire Boddie was cleared of assaulting Mr Adunbi with a taser after also mistaking him for Mr McCalla.

Black rights campaigner Desmond Brown, said the only similarity between the two was "they are both black men".

'Looks nothing like' him

Avon and Somerset Police confirmed officers looking for Mr McCalla had stopped Mr Adunbi.

A spokesman said: "Officers on patrol in a marked car drove alongside a man in Chelsea Road to ask for his name, as they thought he might be a man wanted for a grievous bodily harm offence committed in Filton Avenue, Bristol, in the early hours of 11 October.

"The man was asked to confirm his name but he didn't reply.

"On closer look, officers were able to establish the man wasn't the wanted suspect and they drove off. We fully accept the man the officers spoke to wasn't the man we're trying to trace."

Mr Brown, said it was "amazing" Mr Adunbi had been stopped again yards from his house when he "looks nothing like" wanted man Mr Mccalla."Not the same height, build, type of dread locks or even eye colour," he said.

"The similarity, they are both black men," he said.

He said Mr Adunbi said the officers involved had been "laughing" despite the "distress caused".

'Civil claim'

Mr Adunbi is pursing a civil claim against the police force for when he was tasered on 14 January 2017.

PC Boddie, an acting sgt at the time, was on duty with a colleague in the Easton area when they mistook Mr Adunbi for Royston McCalla.

After a confrontation, she eventually discharged her Taser, and Mr Adunbi was struck in the face by one of its barbs.

An internal disciplinary hearing found Mr Adunbi was "at times aggressive and threatening" towards the officers and cleared PC Boddie of gross misconduct.

She was also cleared of assault charges at Salisbury Magistrates' Court in May.