As we draw ever nearer to the Christmas holiday season, many people in this country will be looking forward to travelling to spend time with their families or enjoying a short break abroad. Many of those travel plans will inevitably involve airport transit, and I wrote recently about the considerable number of wrongful arrests that occur at airports owing to the Police and/or Court record- keeping errors; the simplest mistake in such a system can so easily result in the traumatic experience of an innocent person being arrested at the Departure Gate or at Border Control in front of their friends/ family.
Sadly, such an experience – yet another wrongful arrest at an airport – befell my client Imran, a Safety Inspector and man of unblemished character, in the circumstances which I will explain below.
In December 2020 my client Imran’s ex-wife applied to the Family Court at Birmingham for a “Forced Marriage Protection Order” in relation to their daughter (who was then 15 years old).
This application was initially dealt with “ex parte” i.e. without Imran being present or able to make representations to the Court. ‘Ex parte’ orders of this nature are designed to ensure a short-term preservation of the ‘status quo’, until the Court has the chance to consider all the evidence at a full hearing attended by all of the parties.
The ex parte order forbade Imran from removing his daughter from the jurisdiction of the Court (i.e. England and Wales) or for applying for a new passport or any other travel documents for her and it further forbade Imran entering into any matrimonial arrangements for his daughter whether in the UK or abroad.
The order ended with a “Note to Arresting Officer” that stated –
“Under section 63CA of Family Law Act 1996 breach of a Forced Marriage Protection Order is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment. It is an arrestable offence and it is not necessary to obtain a warrant.
A person who without reasonable excuse does anything that he is prohibited from doing by a Forced Marriage Protection Order is guilty of an offence.”
The matter then came back before the Family Court for a full hearing in February 2021 at which the Court, notably, amended the Order so as to allow Imran to apply for travel documents for his daughter and to take her abroad – subject to Imran notifying his ex wife of any such travel plans at least four weeks in advance of any trip; Imran providing his ex wife with details of where their daughter would be staying abroad (and copies of her travel tickets) and a stipulation that Imran could not take his daughter abroad for a period of more than two weeks at a time.
The order concluded with the same note to any arresting officer in relation to breach of the order, as cited above.
In the circumstances, although the Forced Marriage Protection Order was to continue until February 2024, my client was now entitled to take his daughter out of the country, subject to satisfying the three conditions referred to above.
Arrested at the Airport
In the summer of 2022, Imran made arrangements to travel to Pakistan with his second wife, their infant son and his now 17-year-old daughter (the subject of the Forced Marriage Protection Order).
The family were to travel from Gatwick Airport on the morning of the 25 September 2022.
My client’s second wife is a Pakistani citizen who speaks very little English. His infant son was just 4 months old.
In making arrangements to travel, Imran had fully complied with the terms of the Forced Marriage Protection Order in that-
i) He had informed his ex wife of his plans to travel abroad with their daughter at least 4 weeks in advance;
ii) He had provided to his ex wife details of where they would be staying whilst abroad, together with copies of her travel tickets including her return ticket; and
iii) The trip was to last for 14 days only.
At approximately 7.45am, my client and his family were at the airport gate ready to board their plane.
Imran was then approached by two officers of Sussex Police. Imran was told that he would not be boarding any plane and that he was under arrest. He was handcuffed to the front and then led away from his family.
Imran was understandably distraught, as was his family.
Imran was now taken to Crawley Police Station, where he arrived at approximately 9.20am.
Despite requesting to speak to a solicitor, no such access was provided, and my client was kept in custody throughout the day and overnight, worrying about his family from whom he had been so abruptly and forcibly removed.
On the morning of the 26 September, Imran was informed that he was going to be taken to Crawley Magistrates’ Court.
Imran was then led in handcuffs to a police van, whereupon he was told that he was in fact going to be taken all the way to the Family Court in Birmingham.
Upon arrival, Imran was again handcuffed and brought out of the van and into the Court. Enquiries were made. It was now suggested that my client should be taken to the Crown Court.
Imran was then returned to the van, his handcuffs were removed, and he was driven to Birmingham Crown Court.
Upon arrival, Imran was, once again, subjected to the shameful experience of being handcuffed and brought out of the van and taken into the Court building. Once again, Court staff were unable to assist, and the transport staff were now directed to take my client to the Magistrates’ Court.
Imran was then transported to Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.
Outside the Court, the van driver apparently made enquiries with his Operations Manager and it was now decided that my client had ‘no case to answer’ and should be immediately released. This twisted ‘magical mystery tour’ had finally come to an end, and not a moment too soon…Imran’s unlawful detention from 7.45am on 25 September 2022 to approximately 7.00pm on 26 September 2022 had been a period of over 35 hours.
By this stage, Imran felt sick and was distressed not only as regards his own predicament, but also that of his family.
Imran’s property was returned to him, and he was finally able to call his wife. He established that his wife and children had stayed the night before at an airport hotel. He was able to make arrangements for a friend, who was a taxi driver, to drive to Gatwick Airport, pick up his family and bring them home. Imran returned home and later that evening, was reunited with his wife and children. The family had incurred considerable expense in terms of wasted flights, hotel and taxi charges, but the emotional toll upon them all was far worse.
My client is a man of entirely good character and the whole experience was very alien to him and has left him with huge feelings of anxiety when he is at the Airport and an understandable degree of ‘paranoia’ about the Police. Although this has settled to some extent, his anxiety around going to the Airport and travelling by air is still present. He told me: “It felt horrible being lifted like a criminal at the gate of the Airport.”
After conducting investigations on behalf of Imran, I established that Sussex Police – the Force whose officers actually arrested Imran at the Airport and thereafter arranged for his transportation to Court – were almost certainly not liable themselves for his wrongful arrest, because it transpired that the Police National Computer system (PNC) had not been updated to reflect the significant change in the conditions of the Forced Marriage Protection Order following the hearing in February 2021. In other words, according to the PNC it was still a ‘crime’ for Imran to be taking his daughter abroad at all, in any circumstances.
I established that the failure to correctly update the PNC lay at the door of the local Force in Birmingham i.e. West Midlands Police.
Accordingly, I pursued a claim on Imran’s behalf against West Midlands Police for breach of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), negligence and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.
It was the failure of West Midlands Police to ensure that the PNC details were accurate which had caused Sussex Police to wrongly believe that Imran was breaching the Court Order.
I am pleased to confirm that I have this month successfully concluded Imran’s claim, with West Midlands Police agreeing to pay him damages of £17,250 plus his legal costs.
Until the Police significantly sharpen up their data recording practices and staff training, however, I can only see this type of absurd and abusive airport departure – into unlawful custody- continuing time and time again.
My client’s name has been changed.
You must be logged in to post a comment.