Ballet Dancer Awarded £600,000 From Police After Being Mistaken For A Terrorist

A Billy Elliot ballet star who was mistaken for a terrorist and beaten up by a Met police officer is set to receive £600,000 compensation.

Alexander Loxton, now 36, suffered an ankle ligament injury during a stop-and-search in September 2016, which ended his ballet career just as he had made it big in the industry; landing the role of Older Billy in London’s Victoria Palace Theatre production of Billy Elliot.

The search took place when Alexander had gone to Kennington police station in order to collect a stolen helmet visor and scooter.

Instead, he was mistaken for a terrorist, confronted by a group of officers, and subjected to unreasonable force when one of the officers stamped on his ankle during the search.

His barrister, Fiona Murphy KC, told the Central London County Court: ‘Mr Loxton tensed. The officer did not succeed in taking control of the claimant’s left arm.

‘He stamped his foot repeatedly on the claimant’s left foot while pulling on the claimant’s left arm – the officer insisted he never did this.

‘The officer pushed and pulled him about while clamping down on the claimant’s left foot.’

Alexander was pressed against a wall as the officer continued to search him, repeatedly stamping his foot down onto his ankle in the process.

According to the officer, Alexander was spotted ‘brazenly looking into the yard’ where bikes had been previously stolen, prompting the officer to suspect he was ‘there either to break into the police yard or conduct an activity related terrorism.’

Some leap to go from bike thief to terrorist!

The officer also denied the force used was over-the-top, and said Alexander was ‘very aggressive and extremely evasive’.

In the end, Judge David Saunders said the lead officer had ‘considerably overreacted’ and was ‘far too hasty in forming conclusions.’

The former ballet star was left with permanent injuries to his ligaments in his ankle, as well as soft tissue injuries to his thumb, wrist and fingers.

He also suffers feelings of ‘distress, anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation and degradation.’

Alexander has undergone extensive rehab sessions, but his injuries meant he was unable to perform to a professional standard, and so he had no choice but to retire from the ballet game.

So far, the judge has awarded him with £24,000 in ‘general damages’ and a provisional £10,000 in ‘aggravated damages’, but Alexander is seeking a total of £600,000. I guess that comes down to how much a top-flight ballet dancer would be expected to earn in their short careers.

Alexander was 27 at the time of the incident, and had already starred with Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren in Disney’s ‘The Nutcracker’ and played the role of Peter Rabbit at Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th birthday garden party. He had just bagged the role of Older Billy in Billy Elliot! Such a stupid way for the poor guy’s ballet career to end.

The full issue of compensation will be decided in court at a future date.

For the giant LED screen that fell and seriously injured two dancers at a K-Pop concert, click HERE.