- Dele Johnson, 37, said it was similar to George Floyd's ordeal
Lawyers have threatened to boycott a court after five security guards allegedly detained a black lawyer and ignored his pleas that he could not breathe.
Defense attorney Dele Johnson said guards wrestled him to the ground after he refused to take off his shoes during a security screening.
Mr Johnson, 37, said it was an ordeal George Floydwhose killing by Minneapolis police while protesting “I can't breathe” prompted the Black lives matter movement.
“I never thought I would also say, 'I can't breathe,'” Mr. Johnson said. “I was just trying to do my job.”
The drama follows female lawyers protesting highly invasive searches at Stratford Magistrates' Court in the east of the country. London.
Lawyer Dele Johnson (pictured) said guards wrestled him to the ground after he refused to take off his shoes during a security screening
A criminal lawyer said a guard felt her legs under her dress “up to my crotch” during a search, while a lawyer said a guard insisted on touching her inner thigh – despite her asking him not to.
Now the London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA) says lawyers may boycott the court if the guards who allegedly assaulted Mr Johnson have not been suspended by private firm OCS.
LCCSA president Edward Jones said he was “shocked” by the guards' alleged behavior.
Mr Johnson's identity card was checked when he arrived last Wednesday as the on-duty youth lawyer.
After leaving the building to smoke a cigarette, he agreed to a search when he returned but refused to take off his shoes, which he said led to four security guards forcibly removing him.
While a defendant waited for him, he re-entered the building through a side door but was denied entry to the court and is said to have been grabbed by 'four or five' security guards.
“I started flailing, I felt like I was fighting for my life against five men to keep them from grabbing me,” he said.
'Eventually they got me on the ground. Their knees were on my arms, legs and my back.
“I have asthma, my chest was pressed against the ground, so now I'm struggling to breathe.”
It is alleged that other court staff pleaded with the guards that Mr Johnson could not breathe and the police were called.
Mr Johnson told The Law Society Gazette he cries when he thinks about the ordeal: 'All I can think of is the video of George Floyd saying 'I can't breathe' while everyone is on camera phones and not helps.'
The incident happened two weeks after lawyer Katie McFadden revealed on X that court security staff insisted on feeling under her dress while on patrol.
The drama follows female lawyers protesting highly invasive searches at Stratford Magistrates' Court (pictured) in east London
During a search earlier this year, “I could feel my legs all the way under my dress, all the way to my crotch,” she said.
A lawyer, who did not want to be named, told The Mail on Sunday that security guards at the court were behaving like “nightclub bouncers”.
Another lawyer added: “Some are thinking of a boycott here.”
HM Courts & Tribunals Service said: 'These are serious complaints which we are investigating as a matter of urgency and as a matter of priority. Our security measures are designed to protect all court users and are continuously monitored. They are drawn up in consultation with the judiciary and the police.'
OCS said it was 'aware of allegations relating to an incident at Stratford Magistrates' Court'.
It added: 'We take such matters seriously and we are working with HMC&TS to conduct a thorough review of the events in question.'