Courton Green is a Lincolnshire sheep farmer. In January 2018, Mr Green was shocked to receive an early morning visit by two Officers of Lincolnshire Police who informed him he was under arrest for animal cruelty. He was handcuffed despite the fact that he was entirely compliant and whisked away to Grantham Police Station without being allowed time to collect his glasses from a nearby truck.
At the Police Station Mr Green was processed, searched and detained in a cell for several hours. During detention, he was obliged to provide his fingerprints, DNA sample and be photographed.
Mr Green had never previously been arrested and found it all to be a devastating experience.
In fact, his state of mental distress was such that the Police became concerned about his well-being, had him assessed by a doctor and he was then taken to Lincoln Hospital for a full mental health assessment.
Following the mental health assessment Mr Green was then allowed to return to his farm – primarily because of his responsibility for his livestock – in a state of ‘shell shock’; indeed, Mr Green’s distress continued at such an intense level that over the next few days he experienced stark suicidal thoughts. Fortunately, he was able to overcome these feelings, but the experience of his arrest and detention left him in a very dark place.
Approximately 5 months later, Mr Green received a summons to attend court. He filed a plea of not guilty to the charges of animal cruelty against him, and his case proceeded to trial in January 2020, where he was indeed found not guilty.
At the trial, Judge Peter Veits ruled that my client’s arrest was unlawful, in the following terms –
“… the arrest had been unlawful as there had been no attempt … to invite [Mr Green] for interview, he had merely been arrested. Had he been so invited and refused then the necessity of arrest would have been established…”
Following his vindication at trial, Courton Green instructed me to pursue a claim for false imprisonment on his behalf against Lincolnshire Police.
Mr Green’s arrest and detention had taken place at the behest of the RSPCA, who suspected him of mistreating an animal, and Police facilities were put fully at the disposal of the RSPCA to allow their inspector to conduct the interview of Mr Green, and then to detain him further whilst the RSPCA inspector consulted with her prosecution unit for a “charging decision.”
The evidence against my client centred around the testimony of an inexperienced farmhand who in January 2018 had witnessed what he believed to be Mr Green using a tractor to ‘behead’ a sick sheep; in fact the sheep was already dead, and Mr Green was carrying out a method of breaking its neck prior to skinning the animal (as the carcass was intended for use as dog food).
Judge Peter Veits at the criminal trial was scathing about the standard of evidence presented by the RSPCA against my client; they were entirely unable to offer evidence to establish “beyond reasonable doubt” that the sheep was not already dead when Mr Green used the tractor as described, and the charges against him were dismissed.
Not only was this a prosecution which should not have been pursued Mr Green should never have been arrested in the first place. Sadly, Lincolnshire Police allowed themselves to be used in furtherance of the RSPCA’s agenda, in dereliction of their own duty to make an independent assessment of the evidence and circumstances, in order to decide whether there was sufficient reasonable suspicion and the requisite necessity to arrest (rather than, for example, arranging a voluntary interview for Mr Green to respond to the charges – which is what should have occurred).
Although Solicitors for Lincolnshire Police quickly admitted liability, it was not possible to agree settlement and Mr Green was forced to issue Court proceedings. His case went to a final hearing in April 2023 where Her Honour Judge Coe awarded Mr Green £20,000 compensation together with his legal fees.
