Three former police officers in the US have been found not guilty of murder over the death of motorist Tyre Nichols.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were acquitted by jurors following a nine-day trial at Tennessee state court.

The former Memphis officers were also found not guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Mr Nichols, a father of one, died three days after officers punched, kicked and hit him with a baton in January 2023 as he was just yards from his home.

The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US including nationwide protests and led to police reform.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, described the verdicts as a “devastating miscarriage of justice”. In a statement, he added: “The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.”

Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he was “surprised that there wasn’t a single guilty verdict on any of the counts” including second-degree murder. He said Mr Nichols’ family “were devastated… I think they were outraged”.

But despite the three defendants being acquitted of state charges during the trial in Memphis, they still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges of witness tampering last year.

Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court. Desmond Mills Jr. gave evidence as a prosecution witness, while Emmitt Martin was blamed for the majority of the violence.

Sentencing for all five officers is pending.

Video evidence showed Mr Nichols was stopped in his car, yanked from his vehicle, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. He broke free and ran away before the five police officers caught up with him again, and the beating took place.

Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Mr Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others’ actions.

They also said the officers had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medics that Mr Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head, but they failed to do so.

The trial heard Mr Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain and died from blunt force trauma.

The defence suggested Mr Nichols was on drugs, giving him the strength to fight off five strong officers, and was actively resisting arrest.

In December, the US Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.

The US central bank held interest rates as it said Trump tariffs have risked higher inflation and unemployment amid “so much” uncertainty.

The announcement is likely to anger President Donald Trump, who has made the taxes on imports one of his signature policies and had threatened to fire the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve, known as the Fed, held rates at 4.25%-4.5%. Unlike the UK, the US interest rate is a range to guide lenders rather than a single percentage.

Money blog: Dynamic pricing coming to UK restaurants

It means borrowing costs have remained unchanged for Americans, something Mr Trump had wanted to reduce.

Interest rates have been raised by the Fed to bring down high inflation in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the supply chain crisis brought about by COVID-19 lockdowns.

Fears of inflation rising higher as tariffs make goods on US shelves costlier, and of job losses from reduced spending, led the Fed to remain cautious.

The full effect of the tariffs is “highly uncertain”, Mr Powell said on Wednesday evening, as those announced so far have been “significantly larger” than anticipated.

A 90-day pause was announced on the suite of taxes Mr Trump imposed on countries across the world, on top of the 10% base tariff, which has remained in place.

A trade war was kicked off between China as the countries escalated tariffs on each other to nearly 150%. Taxes on cars and some metals entering the US are still subject to a 25% tax.

If these tariffs remain, Mr Powell made the strongest statement yet that goods overall would become more expensive.

“If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment,” he said.

“The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent,” he added.

Read more:
Trump announces 100% tariff on non-US movies
Apple reveals impact of Trump’s tariffs

Uncertainty over the economic outlook also caused consumer and business sentiment to fall, “largely reflecting trade policy concerns”, Mr Powell said.

Despite Mr Trump appointing Mr Powell to the Fed chair position during his first term, the president has repeatedly spoken out against Mr Powell.

Markets rallied after Mr Trump ruled out ousting Mr Powell at the end of April.

It comes as the UK central bank, the Bank of England, is poised to cut interest rates on Thursday afternoon. The base rate is anticipated to drop to 4.25% before falling to 3.5% by the end of the year.

The UK government is in “active discussions” with top officials in the White House about Donald Trump’s film tariffs, a minister has said.

Chris Bryant said the US president’s plan to put 100% tariffs on films made outside America is a “fluid situation” that requires a “calm and steady approach”.

Politics live: PM defends winter fuel cut after local elections drubbing

“We are already in active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject,” he told MPs after an urgent question was raised on the matter in the House of Commons.

“We are working hard to establish what might be proposed, if anything, and to make sure our world beating creative industries are protected.”

He added that he is due to meet UK industry leaders on Thursday.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said he had authorised government departments to put a 100% tariff “on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands”.

Entertainment industry union BECTU has warned this could seriously damage the industry in the UK.

Shadow culture minister Stuart Andrew asked what impact assessment the government has made and whether there are any contingency plans if an exemption can’t be secured.

Mr Bryant said he is “not sure precisely what is intended” with the film tariffs as he doesn’t know “what a tariff on a service would look like”.

“Most films these days are an international collaboration of some kind and we want to maintain that,” he said.

He appeared to rule out retaliatory tariffs if Mr Trump follows through with his plan, saying the Labour government of 1947 introduced tariffs on US films because they thought too many were being shown in the cinema and “it didn’t go very well as a strategy”.

“The Americans simply banned exports of US films and we ended up watching Ben-Hur repeatedly in every cinema.

“The successful bit of what we did in 1947 and 1948 was that we invested in the British film production system. And that led to films like Hamlet and Kind Hearts and Coronets. I think that that’s the pattern that we still want to adopt.”

PM urged to stand up to Trump

However, the Liberal Democrats have urged the government to stand up to Mr Trump, whose film tariffs form part of a wider crackdown on US imports announced earlier this year.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, party leader Ed Davey urged Sir Keir Starmer to work with allies in Europe and in the Commonwealth to “make clear to President Trump that if he picks a fight with James Bond, Bridget Jones and Paddington Bear, he will lose”.

However, the PM said it is “not sensible or pragmatic” to choose between Europe and the US, with Downing Street still seeking to negotiate an “economic deal” with Washington that it hopes could offset some of Mr Trump’s measures.

Mr Trump said the film tariffs were necessary because other countries were “offering all sorts of incentives to draw” filmmakers and film studios away from the United States, calling the issue a “national security threat”.

But insiders have questioned whether it will be effective as the exodus of the film industry from Hollywood is mostly due to economic reasons, with other countries having lower labour costs and more expansive tax incentives.

Much of the 2023 box office smash Barbie was filmed at the Warner Bros Leavesden studios, in Hertfordshire, as was Wonka and 2022 hit The Batman, while the vast majority of James Bond films were shot at Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire.

It was also unclear whether the duties will apply to films on streaming platforms as well as those that are released in cinemas.