A woman secured compensation from a police force after being held in cells for 12 hours ‐ only for officers to conclude she had no case to answer following a 15-minute interview.
The woman had attended a police station in relation to an ongoing dispute with her former employer, whom she had alleged was making false allegations against her.
She attended the police station after being called by an officer, who informed her that a complaint had also been made against her.
When she arrived at the station she was falsely imprisoned and placed in a cell, where she remained for 12 hours, having to ask for some water, as none was provided.
She was only made aware that she had been arrested on suspicion of fraud ‐ due to an allegation made against her by the former employer she was in dispute with ‐ when she was able to speak to a criminal solicitor.
She was also informed her property had been searched, in which 2 memory sticks, a camera and a dictaphone were taken, before eventually being released and notified that no further action was to be taken.
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False Imprisonment claim
Leanne Stephenson, a Civil Liberties solicitor, said:
In this case, the woman had actively made enquires of the police herself having made her own allegations about her former employer, and as a result had voluntarily attended at the police station after being called by an officer.
She was then arrested without clearly being told the reason why, and it appeared that a possible motivation for arresting her had been the search of her premises, which certainly didn’t need to be conducted there and then as the police had been aware of this dispute between the two parties for some time.
The police conceded that the matter was then not progressed, which certainly placed into question the need on the day to arrest our client when she arrived at the station, and the decision to keep her in custody so long. An appointment could have been made for a later time without any need for detention.
Also, the officers failed to inform our client clearly of the grounds of arrest, and then ensure refreshments were provided during a long period in detention.
