From the Daily Telegraph:

Police have been criticised after a number of officers were filmed apparently holding a black woman to the ground shortly after she demanded a refund from a nearby jewellery shop.

Onlookers who filmed the incident said the woman appeared to have shown no signs of aggression and was not resisting when she was held on Saturday morning.

Observers said she appeared to have been pinned to the ground by officers, but Herts police sources said the woman had herself begun to kneel down, at which point officers “lowered her” to the pavement in order to finishing applying the handcuffs “as this was safer than trying to stand her back up”.

In distressing footage posted on social media the woman – who is understood to work as a nurse for the NHS – was seen crying and asking why she was being arrested.

The woman can be heard saying: “All I did was ask for a refund. Why are they doing this to me? They listened to the white man, they didn’t listen to me. All I wanted was a refund. I didn’t break anything. I just wanted my customer rights. I didn’t damage anything. It was plastic that got smashed.”

Observers said the footage appeared to raise disturbing questions about the tactics used by some police officers when dealing with incidents involving black people. more