A photographer is suing the Metropolitan Police after claiming that he was assaulted by them whilst covering a demonstration in London reports the Press Gazette.

Marc Vallee has served papers on the force in respect of injuries he says they inflicted on him during the “Sack Parliament” protest in Parliament Square on 9 October 2006.

Vallee, a member of the National Union of Journalists, claims he was so severely hurt that he needed treatment by ambulance workers at the scene before being taken at St Thomas’s Hospital.

Vallee’s solicitors Hickman and Rose, said: “Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of democracy and safeguards afforded to the press are particularly important. Mr Vallee was lawfully present to photograph a political protest outside parliament, yet received injuries at the hands of Metropolitan police officers.”