Actor claims Met police pepper-sprayed him after returning home from a show

The Metropolitan police has said it is investigating an incident in which an actor claimed he was pepper-sprayed by officers during an “unlawful arrest”.

Reece Richards, who appeared in the Netflix series Sex Education, said he was thrown to the ground during a police chase in Fulham, south-west London, on 4 September.

The actor had been performing in the musical Hairspray earlier that evening and said the incident occurred “just yards from [his] front door”.

In an Instagram post, Richards said: “I had just finished performing in Hairspray the Musical when a car crashed near me.”

He said that two men jumped out of the vehicle so he pointed out to the police the direction in which they had fled. The officer then shouted to Richards that he was under arrest and “demanded” he get to the ground, according to the actor.

The Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, the director of Hairspray the Musical, has alleged Richards was “racially profiled and violated”.

Richards said: “I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal.

“Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show but one officer yelled: ‘Get to the floor or I’ll pepper-spray you.’

“Moments later, three more officers ran at me. They pepper-sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me.

“In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground.

“I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach.”

He added: “I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear my mum nearby, screaming and crying, begging them to let me go.”

The Met said officers were pursuing a suspected stolen car with false plates before the incident, adding that before Richards had been de-arrested on Fulham Palace Road “a Taser was pointed but not discharged”.

Richards said he had lodged formal complaints with the Metropolitan police and Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).