The Metropolitan Police have paid a five-figure settlement in a claim pursued by a French publisher for misfeasance in a public office and false imprisonment, the Guardian reports.

The left-wing publisher, Ernest Moret, was stopped by counter-terrorism police officers in April 2023 on arriving at London via the Eurostar. Officers questioned Mr Moret on anti-government demonstrations in France that he had participated in, before asking him to disclose his iPhone and MacBook PINs. When Mr Moret refused, he was arrested and detained under the Terrorism Act for approximately 24 hours.

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows police departments to stop, examine, and detain those entering or leaving the UK if they suspect that person to be engaged in terrorism. people who pass through the United Kingdom’s borders, in order to determine whether they are involved in acts of terrorism. 8,000  people have been stopped under this legislation between 2020 and 2023.

A July 2023 report from the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, concluded that ‘this examination should not have happened, and that additional safeguards are needed to ensure it is not repeated.’ Hall additionally found that ‘Schedule 7 power, however useful and justified in some cases, is powerful. It must therefore be exercised with due care.’

In response, a recent statement from the Metropolitan Police, published by The Guardian, emphasised that ‘Schedule 7 is an important power in protecting the borders of the UK and it remains a vital tool in our efforts to counter the terrorist threat and keep the public safe.’