Met Police who 'removed paint' from Windrush crime scene face review
The Met Police says that officers attempted to remove paint from the crime scene where portraits honoring the Windrush generation were vandalised - in order to 'prevent more damage'.
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The Source Exclusive: Met Police who 'removed paint' from Windrush crime scene face review
Community leader Ros Griffiths has demanded for the officers to be investigated and for CCTV footage of the timeline of events to be shown.
STORY BY MELISSA SIGODO
JULY 8, 2025
The Met Police says it is reviewing the actions of officers who “attempted to remove the paint” from the crime scene where portraits honouring the Windrush generation were vandalised.
The Windrush Untold Stories exhibition in Brixton, London, was defaced with paint and other damage less than two weeks after it was unveiled on the weekend on Windrush Day, leaving the Black community in shock.
When news broke of the incident, police said they were called to reports of vandalism on July 3, 2025, at 6.09am and that they had attended and spoke to a man but no arrests were made.
On July 6, the Met police said that they had made an arrest but that it was not being treated as a hate crime.
But following claims reported in Brixton Blog of officers ‘cleaning up the damage’, the Met Police has now told The Source that their actions are being reviewed.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “The officers who first responded to the incident attempted to remove the paint in order to prevent permanent or further damage to the exhibition. The suspect remained on scene.
“We are reviewing their actions to determine if the officers acted appropriately.”
According to Brixton Blog, two witnesses claim they saw police officers near the exhibition the night before The Met police says officers were called to the scene.
Witnesses who go by the names Shanae and Deborah say they allegedly saw officers get water from McDonald’s located in Brixton and use it to “clean some of the 20 images of members of the Windrush Generation that had been sprayed with paint and attacked with a sharp object”, the news site reported.
Now, the Met police says officers did it to “prevent further or permanent damage” and that their actions will be reviewed to determine if they acted appropriately.
Speaking exclusively to The Source, Chair of Friends of Windrush Square Ros Griffths responded to news of the review, saying that the officers should be investigated further.
Ros said: “We were shocked to hear they tried to clean it up. It’s not their job. Their job as police officers is to fight crime.
“The scene should have been taped off. That’s evidence. It’s supposed to remain exactly as it was. You collect the evidence, the object they used, the paint that was used, to determine you’ve got the right person and they are linked to the crime. It’s a crime scene.
“They never said initially that police tried to clean the paint. It’s confusing.
“They should be investigated by policing standards. The original statement didn’t say they were cleaning up the crime scene.
“It’s really upsetting just even talking about it.”
Ros added that she wants to be shown CCTV footage to confirm the timeline of events.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe has been launched to help with restoring the exhibition.
The Met police has been contacted for comment.
