In early 2023, an Officer of Nottinghamshire Police contacted my client Roisin in relation to a minor road traffic accident in which she had been involved. Arrangements were made for Roisin to attend a local Police Station, to be interviewed under caution, which she duly did.
At the conclusion of the interview, Roisin was told that she might be summonsed in due course to attend Court.
My client heard nothing further about this matter, and was thus utterly shocked when, almost seven months later the ‘Boys in Blue’ turned up at her home to arrest her for failing to attend Nottingham Magistrates Court.
Roisin honestly explained that she was unaware of any Court summons or requirement for her to attend Court. The Officers were unfazed by this and replied that they had no option but to arrest her.
Roisin was then taken into Police Custody where she was searched and processed and detained in the cell block overnight. The whole experience had been made more terrible for Roisin by the fact that the arrest took place in front of her youngest child, and she was reduced to crying for most of the hours that she spent in the grim and unpleasant Police cell.
The following day she was transported to Court in handcuffs feeling as bewildered, humiliated, and degraded as any law-abiding citizen thrown into such a situation would be.
Thankfully, at least, it did not take long after the Court Hearing commenced for my client’s innocence in this matter to be vindicated; it was quickly established that the Court summons had been sent to my client’s old home address, where she had not lived for some five years.
It is frankly appalling how many people like Roisin suffer wrongful arrest by reason of ‘incorrect address’ errors every year – and indeed how much legitimate Police and Court time is wasted in the process as well. I have blogged about precisely this form of wrongful arrest numerous times over the last 18 months, showing the prevalence of the problem. It is the ‘collateral damage’ caused to people’s lives by bureaucratic laziness/ sloppiness within the criminal justice system, and absolutely inexcusable.
On the basis that it was Nottinghamshire Police Officers and/or staff who were responsible for issuing the original Court summons to the incorrect address (when my client had done all that she reasonably could to ensure they had her correct address, including cooperating with the initial contact earlier that year and attending a Police interview), I advanced a claim on her behalf against the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire for:
- False Imprisonment
- Negligence
- Breach of the Data Protection Act 2018
- Breach of Article 5 of European Convention on Human Rights
- Assault and Battery (the latter being the application of any and all force to Roisin during her arrest and imprisonment – but especially including the entirely unnecessary use of handcuffs upon her).
I am pleased to confirm that in December 2023, following receipt of a detailed letter of claim which I had sent on behalf of Roisin, East Midlands Police Legal Services, acting on behalf of the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, accepted that the Postal Requisition had been sent to my client’s previous address as a result of a Police “administrative error” and that liability for all of the causes of action outlined in my letter of claim was admitted.
Roisin was detained in total for over 26 hours. Her compensation would, however, be measured not only by reference to the precise amount of time for which she was deprived of her liberty but also the sadly much longer lasting psychological impact of a wrongful arrest, and I therefore arranged for Roisin to be examined by a Clinical Psychologist.
When you leave a Police cell behind, it does not necessarily leave you behind. After her arrest, Roisin’s sleep was frequently disturbed, by thoughts that noises outside her house were someone coming to ‘get’ her and by disturbing feelings of being trapped in the cell and separated from her young children (aged only two and four at the time). This got so bad that she was eventually prescribed sleeping tablets. She suffered symptoms of low mood and of anxiety – even something as simple as an unexpected knock on the door could trigger a panic attack and cause her heart to race. She also became very nervous and on edge at any sight of Police officers in the local area. She was signed off work for some time as a result of these symptoms.
The medical expert whom I instructed diagnosed Roisin as suffering from a Specific Phobia, as well as anxiety and depression as a result of this incident.
I am pleased to confirm that in April of this year I was able to conclude Roisin’s claim for damages in the sum of £20,000, plus her legal costs, on the back of that report and with a threat of Court proceedings against the Police. The kind of threat which my Police opponents know I do not bluff about!
If the Police arrest you after using the wrong address, you may be entitled to compensation and I can help you to maximise your award – getting you every penny you are entitled to for such a shocking invasion of your privacy and violation of your liberty; and thereby hopefully helping the Police to learn from their mistakes.
My client’s name has been changed.
Iain Gould - Actions Against the Police Solicitor 
You must be logged in to post a comment.