Today’s blog post criticises police misuse of legal powers after officers from Avon & Somerset Police unlawfully entered a family home at night using a spare key, claiming authority under Section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to conduct a “welfare check” related to a parked car. This was a clear overreach, as Section 17 is intended only for urgent threats to life or safety, not minor inquiries. The case was pursued as trespass and a violation of Article 8 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, ultimately resulting in over £10,000 in damages for the family.
Content Authenticity Statement
100% of this week’s blog post was generated by me, the human.
Police Powers vs Privacy Rights: When the Law Is Overstepped
“I thought the police were supposed to uphold the law and protect people and property, not invade privacy without lawful reason.”
Our private homes are “out of bounds” to Police Officers except in extraordinary circumstances. Sometimes, the Police must be content not to know information, and to respect a locked door; indeed, the respect of the agents of the State for a private citizen’s locked door is one of the keystones of democracy.
Misuse of Section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
This week’s blog post concerns yet another home trespass by Police Officers misusing the special powers entrusted to them under Section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and committing an outrageous invasion of privacy, a violation of the safety of the home, for the most banal of reasons. Indeed, the actions of the Officers amounted to a psychological assault upon the female occupants of the house that Officers entered in quest of – information about a parked car…
Terrifying Night-Time Police Entry Into a Private Home
In the early hours of a summer night in 2024, my client Susan (with whose eloquent quotation I began this post), and her adult daughter Rose, were asleep in their beds in their rural home. Susan’s son and husband were not at home, so it was just the two women. Rose was awoken by the sound of the doorbell ringing and someone tapping. She became aware of people walking around the outside of the house and using torches. Extremely scared, and naturally thinking that they were being burgled, Rose then hid in a wardrobe.
There are few more terrifying noises than the sound of strangers in your home in the middle of the night.
The people then entered the house via the front door and porch, and into the hallway. Susan had now also heard the commotion and came downstairs in her pyjamas to confront the intruders.
Why Police Entered the Property: A Parked Car Investigation
My clients discovered that the trespassers were Officers of Avon & Somerset Police. At first, she feared that something terrible had happened to her husband or her son; then officers began asking questions about her husband’s car. Earlier that evening, Susan’s son had driven the car, parked it in a remote location and then gone for a jog. The officers told our client that they had been looking for a stolen car and came across her husband’s car. They knew it wasn’t the stolen vehicle they were looked for, but had decided, as ‘the engine was cold’, it had been ‘abandoned’, and therefore they wanted to track its owner down.
How Officers Gained Entry Without Permission
It transpired that the officers had found a key that Rose had left in a flowerpot outside of the premises, and used it to unlock the front door and let themselves in when there was no answer to their initial knocking.
Emotional Impact of Police Trespass on the Family
After speaking to Susan and Rose, the officers apologised and left; but they had no business being there in the first place, and the after- effects of their invasion of my clients’ home address, in terms of the shock, distress and anger caused to the family, lasted much longer. As Susan later said –
“The Police were ‘goons’ who acted impulsively, showing a large degree of thoughtless complacency and arrogance.”
Legal Action: Trespass and Human Rights Violations
Susan and her family consulted me for legal advice and representation. I was happy to take on all of their claims, for trespass to land under the Common Law, and for breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to private and family life) on a no win, no fee basis.
Police Defence: Claiming Lawful Entry Under Section 17 PACE
Avon & Somerset Police sought to argue that their Officers’ actions were lawful, as they had found what they described as a “seemingly abandoned” vehicle, and that having found that Susan’s husband was the owner (from a registration plate check), and then had no answer when they knocked on the door of my clients’ home, they claimed they had a right to enter under Section 17(1)(e) PACE because of “concerns for the welfare” of the abandoned vehicle’s owner.
Why Section 17 Did Not Apply in This Case
To be clear, there was no evidence that anything at all had happened to Susan’s husband, and there was no damage to his car; these alleged concerns simply arose from the officers having decided that his vehicle was ‘abandoned’, and gone on a flight of fancy from there. Police Officers generally do best when they remember that they are policing the real world, not a TV drama. Yet further, their repeated use of the word ‘abandoned’ was a manipulative cacophemism (the opposite of a euphemism) – a word designed to imply evidence of a catastrophe or mystery, when in fact what was being described was a parked car.
Misuse of Police Language and Authority
Cacophemisms, however, are as much a tool of Policing as handcuffs and radios.
Section 17 Powers: Intended for Emergencies Only
As I have written time and time again on this blog – Section 17(1)(e) of PACE is a power “to save life or limb” in the face of real and present danger, not to merely carry out a ‘welfare check’ and certainly not to ask questions about vehicle ownership. There was no evidence anyone inside the house was injured or dying, and nor could any such inference reasonably be drawn from a parked car, found in an entirely normal state. The officers simply had no right to use the key – but the fact that they thought they did, or thought they could blag or overawe the occupants into thinking they did, speaks volumes as to why my services as an actions against the Police solicitor are in such high demand, and why this blog is necessary.
Pattern of Police Overreach in Home Entry Cases
Bursting through the door to save life and limb is a power intended to be used exactly as it sounds, in obviously urgent and extreme situations, but so often officers misuse it, simply to gain access to ask questions where they have no right to do so.
The Importance of Respecting Private Property Rights
The officers in this case weren’t terrible villains – but they were busy- bodies who had no right to invade a family’s private space. They let their power go to their heads, and seemed to have no conception that breaking into a house in the middle of the night to ask questions about a parked car, was a gross up-ending of their roles and duties. They should have respected the ‘no answer’ to their knocking and left, it is as simple as that, no matter how keen they were to trace the owner of the vehicle. The role of the Police is to serve the public – not the other way around.
Compensation Award: £10,000 for Unlawful Police Entry
My team and I, including my fellow solicitor Alexandra Nelmes, have recently recovered damages for Susan and her family totalling over £10,000 plus legal costs.
My clients’ names have been changed.
Further Cases of Police Trespass and Civil Liberties Violations
Read here the stories of other people whose doorsteps and civil liberties were trampled over by Police Officers, how I helped them win substantial compensation awards, and how I can help you, if the Police trespass in your home-
- Unwarranted: When the Police Can Enter Your House Without A Warrant, And When They Can’t
- An Englishman’s Home Is Still His Castle
- An Englishman’s Hotel Room Is Also His Castle
- Police Home Trespass: Misuse of Section 18 Powers of Entry
- £41,000 Damages For Family After Cheshire Police Raid The Wrong House.
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Contact the Expert Police Misconduct Solicitor
Iain Gould is a solicitor specialising in complaints, claims and civil actions against the Police. With over 30 years of experience and a national reputation, he has successfully sued all 43 police forces in England and Wales challenging abuse of power and securing rightful compensation
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