A police force has admitted unlawful arrest after sending six uniformed officers to detain two parents who had complained about their school on WhatsApp.
Hertfordshire constabulary originally defended its arrest of Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine but has now agreed a £20,000 payout. The force admitted that the legal criteria for arrest were ‘not made out’ and formally accepted liability for wrongful arrest and detention.
It stood by its decision to investigate, citing the volume of correspondence sent by Allen and Levine to their daughter’s primary school.
The case led to a national debate about police overreach after the Times revealed that Allen and Levine had been detained in January in front of their young daughter before being fingerprinted, searched and left in a police cell for eight hours.
They were questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property. After a five-week investigation, police concluded that there should be no further action.
Six officers, who arrived in a police van and two marked vehicles, arrested the couple after Cowley Hill Primary School, which their daughter attended, complained of a high volume of emails and disparaging comments on WhatsApp.
In April, Andy Prophet, chief constable of Hertfordshire, defended the arrests.
He said that the inspector who had approved them did not believe Allen and Levine would consent to a voluntary interview and also needed to preserve electronic devices.
However, the force’s lawyers admitted this month that the criteria for arrest, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, were not made out “therefore rendering the arrest unlawful”. The force agreed a payout of £10,000 each to Allen, 50, and Levine, 47, noting that the sum was “significantly above that required by the case law and reflects the constabulary’s desire to bring matters to a conclusion”.
Needless to say, the couple were defended by the Free Speech Union....<<<Read More>>>....







































