Met Police chief defends criticism of Zack Polanski over Golders Green post

The head of the Met Police has defended publicly criticising Green Party leader Zack Polanski for questioning the actions of police in Golders Green. Sir Mark Rowley sent a spiky response to Mr Polanski after the politician shared a post on X accusing arresting officers of "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head" after he had been tasered. In a letter to the politician - which the force shared on social media - he warned the accusation could have a "chilling effect" and hit out at "armchair experts". The highly unusual intervention came just days before the local elections, when the Green Party is expected to make large gains in the capital. On Friday morning, Sir Mark said the officers had "of course" used a lot of force because they were afraid the suspect might have a concealed explosive. Just moments earlier, two Jewish men had been stabbed in the street in a horrifying terror attack. The Met Police chief told Times Radio: "I'm not interested in politics but if somebody eminent, rather than some of the oddballs on social media, if someone eminent says something or does something which I see has a risk to undermining the confidence of my officers to act - because they need that sense of public support - they now need to intervene on that, and that's what I did with that letter." He said the officers involved had been shaken after making the arrest. Asked if it was "necessary" to kick the man in the head during the arrest, Sir Mark said of the officers: "They're using the force that they seem (sic) necessary. His letter, shared on Thursday, said: "I am disappointed because it is this kind of inaccurate and misinformed commentary - with the associated disregard for the incredibly challenging and dangerous work police officers do to protect the public - that is contributing to the rising tensions we are seeing in society and undermines officer confidence to act." And he continued: "It is entirely possible the author of the post you retweeted had direct experience from the scene, or has years of experience handling complex, violent situations. But I suspect the more likely scenario is that they are another armchair critic, who thinks they could do the job, possibly more effectedly than the brave officers to successfully detained the individual. "Those officers are nothing short of extraordinary." A Green party spokesperson: "Zack has seen the video like everyone else, and doesn't know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities, but we do need to understand more about the response." On Friday Essa Suleiman, 45, was charged with attempted murder following the double stabbing. He also faces a third count of attempted murder over an incident elsewhere in the city earlier the same day that left a man with minor injuries. In an address from Downing Street on Thursday Keir Starmer called for the nation to stand together against antisemitism. Mr Starmer stated: "We will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community. But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering, and Jewish fear. "I call on everyone to come together and fight antisemitism, and I call on everyone to fight for the decent, respectful, tolerant Britain that I and millions of people love."