This is the personal statement of Elliot James Meredith, written to capture the horrific events that

occurred whilst in Police custody:

On Sunday January 17th, myself, Dan Rollinson, Ben Merritt, Alex Burchill, Yasmine Williams and
Josh Snell, were all leaving a work colleagues house party at 6 Avenue Brugman where we had
been since 11pm that evening. Having decided to get some food and go home, we left the house at
approximately 02.45am and immediately upon opening the front door, two police officers (Officer 1
and Officer 2 ) were stood outside and wanted to know what was going on inside and who ownded
the property, to which we replied it was a party and Ben would go and get the owner. I continued to
walk up the street towards the Tandoori Village but Dan and Ben remained behind appearing to be
talking with the police officers still at the door. I returned to the group at which point we all left to
walk up to the take away leaving the police at the door of the party.
Whilst in Tandoori Village ordering our food, two police cars pulled up outside and initially 3 police
men ran into the establishment and without saying anything they body tackled Dan down to the
floor smashing his head on the floor in the process. The owner of the establishment witnessed this
incident in apparent disbelief and appeared to try and make a phone call. With Dan on the floor
they violently kicked and punched him while attaching handcuffs. One officer then said what
sounded like, le grande homme aussi at which point Ben having seen the violence of the first
arrest simply put his arms out ready and was handcuffed without violence. They were dragged
outside of the takeaway and put into police cars. At this point myself, Alex, Yasmine and Josh were
on the street asking them why they had been arrested and what was going on, to which we got no
reply. Alex had been videoing the incident at which point Officer 2 approached Alex grabbed his
phone and started to delete all the recordings Alex had made. I again asked Officer 2 why they
were getting arrested and why he was deleting the video - he then physically and aggressively
pushed me back with both his hands, an action that instinctively made me lift my own arms to
brush his hands off me. What appeared to be about three other officers then approached me and
tried to manhandle me to the floor. I resisted this by bracing my body at first, as I had seen how
brutal they had been with Dan and did not want to receive the same treatment. However, I was
tackled by officers 2,2 and 4, I was forceably pinned up against a doorway slightly to the left of the
entrance to the takeaway when Officer 5 then approached and proceeded to punch me directly in
the face with a blow that I thought had broken my nose. I blanked out for a second and they
smashed my head onto the floor at which point I was handcuffed and held down. As if this restraint
was not enough, Officer 4 knelt his full weight on my skull so it was pushing against the pavement
and has caused significant bruising and swelling beneath my hair line on the left hand side of my
skull. He continued to do this for what seemed like several minutes until the third police car came
round and they further man handled me into the back seat. At no point during them putting
handcuffs on me outside the takeaway did anyone say what I was being arrested for or why they
had been so violent without any provocation. On the journey to the police station Officer 4 sat in the
back seat with me punching me repeatedly in the ribs and jaw and slapping me in the face until we
arrived at the Poste de Police station Saint Gilles.
Officers 4 and 2 dragged me from the car whilst I was crying in pain and fear and they laughed at
me and told me to shut my mouth. They walked me past the cells and through into a small office

space in the back of the building where officers 1,3,5 were waiting for me. I was stood up against
the wall with my handcuffs still tightly bound, all five officers then each took it in turn to punch me in
my face. I was so scared, the people I had always been brought up to believe are there to help you
and protect you were physically assaulting me and I had no one to protect me. I thought they were
going to kill me. I was crying and pleading for them to stop but they continued for another few
minutes. I was cowering up against the wall on my right hand side so all the blows I took hit the left
side of my face. They then took my handcuffs off and tried to make me fight Officer 4 which i
refused to do. I was shaking with fear, bleeding from my nose and face and I refused to be goaded
into a fight despite officer 4 landing several more punches on me in the process.
Finally they stopped and asked me where I lived and what was doing in Brussels. They then
searched me in the office during which Officer 3 groped my penis and testicles with his right hand.
I was then dragged again with my arms in the air, behind my back and my head almost touching
my toes. Bundled into the car and they said they were taking me to the hospital to get a checkup.
Officer 3 then giggled to himself and showed his colleague the painful handcuff position he had put
me in allowing no movement in my wrists and leaving painful bruising marks on both wrists.
On the journey from the police station to the hospital - I was sat on my hands, the front passenger
seat wedged back into my groin so I was unable to move my legs and the forearm of Officer 3 who
sat beside me on the back seat, jammed across my neck pushing my face against the window and
significantly restricting my breathing to the point I thought I was going to suffocate. They went
round several left hand turns and each time they would laugh as it allowed him to put more
pressure on my throat as he exaggerated his swing across the car with each left turn, something
which physically stopped me breathing on numerous occasions throughout the journey. I was
gasping for air and unable to move. I was sobbing throughout, afraid for my life and fearful of what
was coming next. Officer 3 then kept making me repeat I am a little girl, I am a little girl after each
time he asked me what are you?
At one point in the car I asked wether they were trying to kill me and Officer 3 and he replied yes
while dragging me with head almost touching the floor he was pressing on my wrist veins with his
thumb.
On arriving at Hpital Molire Longchamp - 207 Rue Marconi, Forest, Brussels, they then
continued to jab me and slap me as they pulled me out of the vehicle and drag me into the back of
the hospital. While we were waiting for the doctors I was told I was not allowed to look up or speak
to them however in my state of fear and shock I did ask Officer 3 whether he was a human being
and how could he do this to anyone to which he replied no, I am a robot.
As we went in to meet the doctors they stopped the violence and threats and acted like nothing had
happened, I sat on the chair with the two policemen to the left hand side of me. I was so afraid and
scared to talk - I was looking directly into the eyes of the doctors to try and express my fear so they
could see how distraught I was. I speak little French so I couldn't understand a word of what they
were saying, in the hospital the the officers changed personality and acted calm and sensible with
the Doctor. I asked them to all speak english so i could understand what was being said but the two
officers continued to speak in french about my injuries but the Doctor did speak to me in English.

The doctor checked over my face, feeling my cheek bones and nose for a breakages. The injuries
left by the offciers were clear to see without me having to mention it to the doctor. She said
everything was okay and brought in a male doctor who and then asked wether I wanted to make a
formal complaint about the two officers right there or i could come back in the morning to make
one, obviously given I was still in their custody and didnt know what other beatings they had in
store for me, I simply shook my head. I also asked the two officers for a sip of water in the hospital
they just laughed at me and were confused about the word sip. I was given what looked like two
painkillers by the doctor. They took no notes or case reports I was simply taken away as though
the visit had never occurred.I was then bundled back into the back of the vehicle and they repeated
the torture in the car on the way back from the hospital, this time though I wasn't allowed to make a
sound so I was gasping for breath and he just pushed on my neck harder. The same process was
followed with jabs to my jaw and ribs during the trip back to the station as well as the time I was
being dragged through the station and back to the office.
What appeared to be a Senior Officer then entered the room at which point I was praying that this
nightmare was going to end, however he made me get on my knees in front of the other 5
assembled officers and he told me exactly what I was going to say on my statement and that I
pushed an officer over. He told me that that officer had ended up in hospital. They knew and I knew
this was just a lie to cover up what they had done to me, my face now dripping with blood and my
eyes were swelling up. He then said if i don't write this I will be going back to the hospital but for an
hour this time - obviously I nodded my head and said yes sir like he had commanded me to. I then
returned to looking at the floor in silence, whimpering in pain. Officer 2 then shouted what are
you? and I had to repeat Im a little girl he then said that he couldn't hear me so I had to repeat I
am a little girl even louder for everyone to laugh at. The senior officer then said that he didn't like
liars and that if I explained exactly what I did on my statement they wouldn't hit me anymore. They
bullied me into a fake confession, I just wanted to get out of there and away from Belgium.
I was slapped and dragged back towards the cells where they took me to a smaller alcove on the
left. I was forced to strip down to my boxers and then shoved into a cell and my clothes thrown in
afterwards. While I was in my cell Dan was trying to communicate with me and Ben - this didn't end
well as i heard them open Dans door, the voice of officer 3 telling him to shut up and then they
dragged him out into the corridor to beat him, I guess as the cell had cameras. I had to listen to
Dan crying and whimpering as they were smacking him with what sounded like a heavy object. I
presume he was then taken to the offices for a beating and then I heard he crying as they dragged
him out of what sounded like the door that we had entered through at the side of the police station.
After some time I heard him arrive back and he was still crying and whimpering, they took him past
y cell and to the alcove where they had kept all of our belongings - they then continued to beat him
for approximately 10 minutes before putting him back in his cell. I didnt hear any noise from him
after this, I was scared that they had knocked him out.
Some time later they opened my cell door and showed me through back to the office where a
Woman Officer was standing, Officer 2 walked in and giggled to Officer 1 and muttered putain. He
was laughing at the amount my face had swollen up and there was dry blood all over my face. The
woman officer looked at me like it was all my fault and I had got what i deserved. They both sat in
the office while I was processed by officer 1. The female officer was watching over me and asked
why I did what I did and at first I didn't reply because i had not done anything. A male officer asked

me for a reply, by this point i was so afraid and scared that i said that it was automatic reaction to
brush the officers hands off me. They bullied me into thinking that I had done something wrong
even though I knew I had not done anything. She said you will never forget this experience will
you I replied I can agree with that she seemed to be unaware of what has been going on while
the two policemen who drove me to the hospital were smirking to themselves in the background.
After officer 1 took my fingerprints they took my photo against the wall they had beaten me on first
arriving. I was then shown back to my cell where I sat for a further 20 minutes before being shown
to my things, had to sign three french papers that they said confirmed that I had entered the police
station, I had got my things back and at approximately 05.00am left the station. Morning police
officers were starting to arrive and were looking at the three of us in shock - obviously wondering
what we had got into on the previous evening.

Descriptions of the officers involved:

Officer 1 - 6.1ft,slim,30s,skinhead
Officer 2 - 5.9ft, stocky, glasses,rabbit teeth,bald
Officer 3 - 6.1ft,thin,40s,almost hairless,greyish stubble
Officer 4 - 5.9ft,stocky,glasses,dark hair,late 20s
Officer 5 - 5.10ft,overweight,50s,greyish stubble and almost bald
Senior Officer - 5.10ft,thin,late 30s, dark hair
Woman Officer - 5,8ft thin,longish brown hair,fringe, early 30s