Brixton police officer forgives former drug dealer who shot him 26 years ago

A police officer shot by a drug dealer’s bullet 25 years ago has forgiven the man who nearly killed him.

James Seymour and the gunman, Leroy Smith, have now been reconciled and are determined to work together to stop other young men being sucked into gun crime.

The men have been reunited and returned to the place where the shooting happened in 1994 – Rushcroft Road in Brixton – in a film being shown on BBC London news tonight.

Mr Smith, 51, from Wandsworth, escaped on a motorbike after the shooting and fled to America – where he was arrested after a tip-off to the FBI.

He had been accused of using his gun to frighten off rival drug dealers.

He was on the run when the officers – PC Seymour and his colleague PC Simon Carroll – were shot on March 9, 1994.

He had escaped in April 1993 while being transferred from Leicester to Brixton prison after his arrest on gun charges.

Mr Smith, then 25, was jailed for two years for that escape, 18 years for a firearms offence, and five years for robbery. He was given a 25-year sentence for attempting to murder PC Seymour and 18 years for wounding PC Carroll in the same incident.

When Mr Smith was released from prison after 20 years, he wrote a book, Out of the Box, about his experiences.

Mr Seymour read it and decided to forgive the man who shot him.

Mr Smith, now 51, said: “The man forgave me. I shot the man point-blank – a policeman. I’m a gunman. I’m a bad man. He’s a law man.

“And now I can class him as a friend.”

The duo returned to the scene of the shooting, in Rushcroft Road, Brixton, with BBC cameras.

Mr Smith, whose mum was murdered when he was two years old, said: “This place, when I think about it, is just making me feel nauseous. I want to pass out. This is an emotional place. I’m kind of lost for words and that’s not like me.

“When you are like that, you are not thinking about anyone. You are thinking about yourself. It is a self-centred world you are living in.

“I was a different person then. Back then, you wouldn’t have liked me or wanted to be in my company, because I would scare you.

“I went to a pub in Brixton and on the way out the police were there. I said I have nothing to hide, but I did have things. It went crazy – it was a split-second thing. It wasn’t like I planned it – it just happened.

“I didn’t want to go to prison – I had escaped from prison so I was looking at 20 years.

“But after I had time to reflect, I realised my whole situation has gone times 10 up. Now you’ve got Interpol looking for you. And anyone who thinks they can do things and it’s done is tripping. Because after that long inside, the whole world’s left you behind.”

After Mr Seymour approached him, Mr Smith said: “I am lost for words. If it was me, I would not forgive someone. I was scared. I’m still cautious.”

But his attitude has changed. “If it was a situation where something was happening, I would put myself, my life in harm’s way, without hesitation, because of everything what’s happened,” he said.

Leroy was brought up by his grandmother, left school at 13, and was soon in prison for robberies and burglaries. “In the 90s, Brixton was and still is a dangerous place,” he said. “Society is violent but I was more violent because I realised that’s the way you get things done.

“Now, I would say the system is not stacked for you – but you are helping the situation times 10 killing each other.”

Mr Seymour, now retired but training police drivers, described the incident: “He pulled a handgun from his waistband. He hit my colleague in the leg. He fell back screaming.

“The gunman then fired a third shot which hit me about one centimetre from my spine, went across the top of my kidney and ripped flesh out from the side of my body.

“I put my hand to the wound and felt the bleeding. Your training just kicks in. I tried to get to Simon, but the pain was just too bad.

“I remember lying there, thinking I am not going die here. I’m not dying here.”

He realised Leroy had changed after reading his book.

He said: “I read it and thought if he actually wants to make a difference to people’s lives, I will support him and let him know ‘I agree with what you are doing and I hope you have changed’.

“Because I will say I always wanted that, as soon as he was sentenced – I wanted him to change.

“I accept some of my colleagues are not going to support what I am doing.

“I’m pleased Leroy is doing this with me. This is a moment, another moment in my life I will not ever forget.”