Charlie Harrison, 39, was convicted on Monday in Southwark Crown Court, London, of causing serious bodily harm, metropolitan police said in a statement.
His conviction follows a five-day trial last month during which he was convicted by a majority verdict, police added.
Harrison, who was working on Met’s violent crime task force, was dressed in civilian clothes when he got out of his unmarked police car and approached Carl Abrahams and his two sons in Newham, East London, on December 31. 2018, according to Judge Greg Perrins sentencing remarks seen by CNN.
Abrahams took his 13- and 16-year-old sons to visit their mother’s grave at Manor Park Cemetery and was on his way home when Harrison approached and blocked their path, according to the judge.
Abrahams told the court he did not know Harrison was a police officer. He passed him and kept walking, at which point Harrison kicked him to the ground, Perrins said.
Abrahams suffered a knee fracture and had to give up football and running due to injury, according to court documents.
The judge said that Abraham and his sons did nothing wrong and did not act with suspicion.
“After hearing the evidence at trial, I strongly suspect that the reason you stopped Mr. Abrahams and his sons was because they were black,” Perrins said. “If Mr. Abraham and his sons were white, I suspect you would simply go on.”
Abraham’s sons “fear the police and think they are in danger of being targeted because of the color of their skin” three years later, the remarks continue.
Police say Harrison has been suspended and will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.
“It has been found that his actions have fallen far below the standard we expect from our police officers, with one man seriously injured,” Police Commander Paul Betts said in a statement.
“This kind of behavior does not take place in our police service and undermines the trust of the communities we are here to protect,” Betts added.
Perrins acknowledged that Harrison’s police career is now over.
“I accept that this is difficult for you,” the judge said. “However, it is nobody’s fault but yours.”
In 2020, British government data showed that between April 2018 and March 2019, there were 38 stops and searches for every 1,000 blacks in England and Wales, compared to four for every 1,000 whites.
And an exclusive CNN / Savanta ComRes poll showed that blacks in the UK are twice as likely as whites to say they were not treated with respect by the police.