Sometimes, the question as to whether the Police have “reasonable suspicion” to justify a person’s arrest is a highly nuanced question which needs to be the subject of intense legal debate and analysis both in and out of the Court room. On other occasions, it is a matter of blindingly obvious common sense which Officers have overlooked, as they going rushing in ‘where angels fear to tread.’
My client Richard is a 6 foot tall man, with a strong ‘northern’ accent, and who does not have any tattoos on either of his hands. As far as distinguishing features go there is also the small matter of his having a prosthetic left leg, following a serious road traffic accident some years ago.
In or around 2021, Richard moved into Flat 2 of a shared house of five flats in a town in Kent.
In September/October 2023, Richard was asked by his landlord to move into Flat 4 in the same building, whilst renovation works were carried out. At this time, Flat 4 had been vacant for a lengthy period of time.
Late one evening in November 2023, Richard was in bed, dressed only in his boxer shorts (and with his prosthetic limb therefore entirely visible) when he was disturbed by a loud banging on the door of his flat.
Concerned, Richard opened the door to be confronted by three Officers of Kent Police. One of the Officers, PC White, asked Richard if he was “Kevin Butler”. Richard of course replied that he was not.
It is now known that the Officers were looking for Kevin Butler so as to arrest him for failing to attend Court. Mr Butler’s PNC (Police National Computer) record confirmed that he was 5ft 8 inches tall, with a London accent and distinctive tattoos on his left hand and right wrist – other than being white and male, Richard and Mr Butler shared no identifying characteristics – and, even more notably, Mr Butler had two legs.
Nevertheless, PC White now stepped into Richard’s flat, seized hold of my client’s right wrist and told him “You are under arrest for failing to appear”. PC White applied a handcuff to Richard’s right wrist, causing him discomfort.
Richard immediately challenged this misidentification and told the Officers his name.
Another Officer now commented “We will sort it out in a minute, we think you look very much like him (i.e. Mr Butler) and you’ve got a lot of tatts so we will be able to sort it out”. Richard did have tattoos on his body, but not on his hands.
Richard, now perhaps doing the Officers’ investigative duty for them, pointed out that he only had one leg and queried if Mr Butler also only had one leg. All three Officers confirmed that they had not noted that particular detail on Mr Butler’s PNC record – which undoubtedly they would have done, had it been there.
With realisation perhaps beginning to dawn, the Officers removed the handcuff from Richard and allowed him to produce ID in the form of his bank card. Richard told the Officers that they had “scared the life” out of him.
PC White then left Richard’s flat for several minutes to check the Police National Database, during which time Richard remained, in effect under (wrongful) arrest.
When PC White returned, Richard had to allow his hands and wrists to be checked, to confirm that he did not bear the tattoos which Mr Butler did in those places, whereupon the Officers advised Richard “We will mark it up and hopefully we won’t bother you again”. As the Officers left the flat one of them flippantly remarked “Your disability has done you a favour tonight”.
Richard was understandably left shaken and upset by these events, struggled to return to sleep that night and suffered with worry and anxiety for several weeks afterwards.
Although the whole incident had not lasted more than 16 minutes, it was a gross and disturbing intrusion into Richard’s home and life and the effects of it lingered for much longer than that.
Richard was subject to wrongful arrest and detention without the least justification in his home. It was all the harder for him to bear because a modicum of common sense would have excluded him from all reasonable suspicion. His arrest was therefore a perfect – or should we say imperfect – example of high handed, arbitrary, and egregiously thoughtless use of Police power. I am pleased to report that I have recently recovered £3,000 damages, plus legal costs, on behalf of Richard from the Chief Constable. You can read here about some of the many other mistaken identity arrests in which I have recovered significant compensation for my clients, including another case in which Officers ‘overlooked’ a missing limb . If you have been subjected to this type of arrest, then please do not hesitate to contact me for advice.
My client’s name, and the name of the wanted man, have been changed.
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