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I called the police when I suspected I was witnessing a theft…

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I called the police when...

I called the police when I suspected I was witnessing a theft from a factory and when they finished questioning me, I went to the adjacent factory which is owned by my husband.
Shortly after, 2 male policemen burst into the lobby, uninvited, and told me I was being charged with criminal damage. Apparently, the driver who I had suspected, had accused me in my absence my of scratching his van. At first, I thought the police were joking but one snatched my mobile phone from my hand and threw me to the floor where they both knelt on me and handcuffed me. They read me my rights and then frogmarched me to the police car and took me to the station, to the enjoyment of my accuser. At no time was I asked for my side of the story and even the accuser admitted that he never saw me scratch his vehicle.
I was kept at the station in a cold cell from 3 p.m to 11.30 p.m and was sick and ill throughout. I asked for medication but this was denied me. Although the 2 accusing officers were in the building from 8.30 p.m , they were 'too busy, to take my statement.
As my condition worsened, my solicitor insisted that i was in no state to give a statement but met with total refusal on the part of the police. My solicitor insisted that he would be writing this into the records and eventually persuaded the duty sergeant to release me. I was sick throughout the night and the next day, my GP prescribed medication and referral to a psychiatrist. I am still unable to sleep and deeply depressed.
I am 54 years old and weight less than 8 stone. I offered no resistance to the arrest, but
only asked for an explanation. I was totally unprepared to be forced to the ground by 2 heavily built men. My family are sufficiently outraged and shocked by my condition that they are insisting that the matter is taken further. Please give me your advice.

Submitted: 12 years ago.Category: UK Law

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Answered in 2 minutes by:

10/30/2010

Solicitor: Jo C., Barrister replied 12 years ago

Jo C., Barrister

Category: UK Law

Satisfied Customers: 83,768

Experience: Over 5 years in practice.

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Hi

Thank you for your question. I will try to help with this.

What do you want to know about this exactly?

Customer reply replied 12 years ago

I regard the circumstances as outrageous and wish to know if there are possible grounds for taking action against the police.
I was arrested without a proper explanation.
The police tactics were out of proportion to the alleged offence. I was thrown to the ground and handcuffed.
The accuser in his stateement made late, admitted that he did not see me commit the offence and nor did anyone else. I was detained for 8.5 hours and refused proper medical attention and but for the actions of my solicitor I would have been detained overnight.
I am suffering deeply from trauma and have been referred for further medical treatment.
I am 54 years of age and have never been in trouble with the police.

Solicitor: Jo C., Barrister replied 12 years ago

You can make a complaint but I'm afraid I wouldn't be confident about it.

If there was an allegation of criminal damage against you then they have to arrest you to further it. They are not allowed to ask you for your side of the story because that would be an interview and they can only do that in accordance with PACE at the police station.

Im rather surprised they didn't put you straight into a sleep period if you were arrested at 11.30pm. Then you would have been interviewed in the morning with all the delay that brings unfortunately. They can hold a person for 24 hours without charge and so they regularly do so. They are allowed to do that. 8 and a half hours in custody does not give rise to a complaint I'm afraid.

You could argue that they used disproportionate force in effecting arrest. You can complain to the IPCC about that. Usually they counter by saying that you were resisting arrest in some way and there are always two officers. They only use handcuffs when there is some form of resistance though so they have set up that argument in advance.

The real claim is against the person who made an allegation which appears to have been false. If the police receive allegations they are entitled to make arrests. An arrest is an unpleasant experience and many people are arrested against whom there is no case. That does not give rise to a cause in action against the police.

To pursue a claim against the accuser is quite onerous though. It would only really be worth it if he has a large amount of money.

From the point of view of the police action though, this is not an unlawful arrest I'm afraid. You could try to argue that the level of force was excessive but they are usually very adept at countering that and generally the IPCC accept their account. It might be worth complaining anyway as they do investigate.

I am sorry that is probably bad news but please remember to click on accept. I will continue to help.

Jo C., Barrister

Category: UK Law

Satisfied Customers: 83,768

Experience: Over 5 years in practice.

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