In September 2022, Claudia was involved in a road traffic accident, which was attended by Officers of Gwent Police. Those Officers determined that she should be subject to a roadside breath test to establish whether she was in charge of a motor vehicle whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit. Regrettably, she failed that test.
Claudia was then arrested and escorted to hospital to have a blood sample taken for the further investigation of this offence. After the blood sample was taken, she was de-arrested and allowed to leave.
Upon arrest, a police officer had asked Claudia for her home address, which she provided. The police officer accordingly used this address in paperwork relating to the driving offence.
Following analysis of Claudia’s blood sample, a Court Summons was sent to her in January 2023. The Postal Charge stated that Claudia was required to attend her local Magistrates Court later that month, and that the court might issue a warrant for her arrest if she were not to attend.
Unfortunately, the summons was sent not to Claudia’s current address, despite her having provided this to the Police, but to her old residential address, which appeared on the PNC and had not been updated.
Furthermore, the member of Police staff who prepared the Court Summons had failed to identify the discrepancy between the address on the Police National Computer and the correct address which appeared on other electronic systems.
Naturally, Claudia did not attend Court as required and accordingly, the Court issued a warrant for her arrest. The fact that the Police had, all along, had Claudia’s correct address was evident from the fact that it was to her current address that the Police came to arrest her one evening in February. Claudia received a phone call advising that the Police wanted to speak to her about the road traffic accident, but the officer she spoke to gave no warning of their true purpose in coming to her house, and thus she suffered the shock and shame of being unexpectedly arrested in front of her 14-year-old daughter and her partner.
Claudia was detained in Police custody for over 14 hours before being taken to the Magistrates Court in handcuffs and further detained in the Court cells. On being brought before the Magistrates, Claudia pleaded guilty to the driving offence, as she would have done in response to the Court Summons, had she received it. She was already on medication owing to a history of anxiety and depression, and this was considerably inflamed by her traumatic experience of Police arrest as a ‘wanted’ person and the long hours she spent in custody. She felt stigmatised by her experience, became socially withdrawn and suffered from over-eating.
On Claudia’s behalf, I brought a claim for breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 and after negotiation, I was able to settle Claudia’s claim for £8,000 damages plus legal costs.
My client’s name has been changed.
