Scotland Yard has paid out almost £50,000 to an 80-year-old retired ballet dancer Tasered in his kitchen by officers who mistook him for a gun-toting 26-year-old.
Armed police smashed into the home of Roy Morton, who has a pacemaker, fired the stun gun, pinned him down and handcuffed him after a call handler provided the wrong address for a firearms incident.
The terrified father-of-two was then arrested for affray and detained for 11 hours after the raid at 7.13am on December 28, 2021, despite his heart condition and the case being a clear instance of mistaken identity.
The force has now agreed to settle a civil claim launched by Mr Morton, who had a storied career as a dancer with the English National Ballet and English National Opera.
Mr Morton, who also had a speaking role as a page to the Queen in Netflix series The Crown, said he still suffers with PTSD that has left him with a stutter.
No officers have been found to have been guilty of misconduct.
The Metropolitan Police issued a public apology in January 2022 after the Mail exposed the shocking incident, but Mr Morton said he has never received an apology in person from the force.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘The money isn’t the important thing really, the important thing is they haven’t even apologised for being so wrong and causing me so much distress.
‘And they continued to fight on it, with the case almost going to trial.
‘I only agreed to settle because they had already wasted so much time and taxpayers money taking it to trial.
Roy Morton (pictured) – who suffers from a heart condition – was woken on December 28 by officers armed with sub-machine guns who smashed through his front door, tasered him, pinned him to the floor and handcuffed him after allegedly mixing up his address
The 84-year-old white ex-ballet dancer, who was mistaken for a black suspect in his 20s, has finally received a settlement from the Met. Pictured: Mr Morton on tour in Barcelona
‘I could have died. For the first time in my life I felt like an old man, and have been left with a stutter and post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘I will never be the same person I was before this.’
Mr Morton, who also appeared in Hollywood films The Theory of Everything and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, has sold the house in Cricklewood, northwest London, that was raided and said he would put the money towards a new home.
An internal investigation conducted by the Met found the call handler missed multiple opportunities to spot that the address was incorrect.
Despite this, the force denied full liability and a five-day trial was listed for next month.
The claims were settled on January 22, however.
Mr Morton’s lawyer, Rachel Harger, an associate at Bindmans, slammed the force for pursuing years of litigation to settle the case.
‘There was an early public acknowledgement that a serious error had occurred, yet Mr Morton was forced to pursue proceedings to the brink of trial to achieve any finality,’ she added.
Detective chief superintendent Neil Smithson said: ‘We wholeheartedly apologise to Mr Morton and understand the impact this incident has had, while also recognising the amount of time it’s taken to reach a conclusion in this case.
‘We hope Mr Morton is able to move forward and thank him for his patience during this process.
‘We have reviewed the circumstances of this incident to identify any learnings and implemented specific training procedures to avoid similar instances in the future. This includes delivering training to each and every call handler within the Met.’
