In August 2018 Yvonne Farrell, a black Rastafarian woman was at home when she noticed some activity around her partner’s car, a Renault Megane which was parked across the road (and which was at the time subject to a Statutory Off-Road Notification).
Out of simple curiosity, Yvonne ventured outside. She was wearing a loose fitting summer dress and flip flops.
To her alarm, Yvonne discovered that two men operating a tow truck were attempting to take her partner’s vehicle. They asserted that it was none of her business when she attempted to challenge them.
Yvonne explained that it was her understanding that the road they were on was a private road and hence her partner’s car was not on the public highway, for the purposes of SORN.
The men replied that it was not a private road and then proceeded to clamp her partner’s vehicle. Yvonne was aware that her partner had certainly not received any prior warning or notification of seizure, and appealed to the men to simply allow her to move the car approximately 3 metres off the road onto private land. The men refused and continued to clamp the vehicle.
So as to stop what Yvonne considered to be an unlawful and unnecessary seizure of the car, she climbed up onto the roof of her partner’s car and sat down. She attempted to telephone her partner using her mobile, but was unable to get through.
A short time later Police Officers of Hertfordshire Constabulary summoned by the operator of the tow truck, arrived at the scene. They found Yvonne still sitting on the roof of her partner’s car, maintaining her peaceful protest against its seizure. She had been entirely calm throughout and at no point had been rude or aggressive to either of the men attempting to take her partner’s car.
Sadly, the Officers, rather than attempting to arbitrate the situation in a neutral fashion, immediately took the side of the men who were attempting to clamp/confiscate the car.
When Yvonne refused the Officer’s request to climb down from the car they demanded her name. She correctly queried as to whether she was obliged to give the Officers her name; when they told her that she did not, she exercised her right to decline to give them this personal information.
One of the Officers, PC Head, then threatened to arrest Yvonne for “Breach of the Peace”, despite the fact that she could scarcely have been behaving in a more peaceful fashion. Yvonne correctly maintained that this was merely a civil dispute and the Officers should not be using their criminal law powers to intervene and take sides in this manner.
After Yvonne again refused to climb down off the car PC Head announced that she was arrested for “Public Order” and grabbing hold of her arm and leg, dragged her from the roof of the car, causing her to land awkwardly on the ground. The Officers then immediately handcuffed Yvonne’s hands behind her.
Yvonne was then transported to Stevenage Police Station.
Upon her arrival at the station, Yvonne again exercised her right to refuse to confirm her identity, knowing that she had done nothing wrong and that she was being unlawfully detained.
The arresting Officers then falsely alleged that Yvonne had been arrested for “Using abusive language and threatening behaviour” contrary to Section 4 of the Public Order Act.
The Custody Sergeant then resorted to threatening to remove Yvonne’s clothing by force if she failed to cooperate with him and when she again refused to give them her name she was taken to a ‘camera cell’: she was then and obliged to remove all of her clothing, including her underwear.
After Yvonne’s clothes had been taken from her she was provided with alternative clothing but Yvonne felt it inappropriate for her to don these items on religious and cultural grounds, as her Rastafarian beliefs were that as a woman she should only wear long dresses. Yvonne was therefore left in a situation whereby she was entirely naked in her cell for almost three hours during which time a blanket was derisorily thrown on the floor of her cell and at least one male Officer came to the cell door to observe her). Eventually her clothing was returned and she was allowed to re-dress. During this time, detention staff also refused Yvonne’s request to be allowed to make a phone call, until such time as she gave them her personal details.
Meanwhile, a Detective Sergeant had reviewed the evidence and concluded, correctly, that Yvonne’s behaviour did not constitute a “public order” offence. Unfortunately, the Police did not then immediately apologise and release Yvonne, but instead considered whether she could instead be arrested for “theft” of the vehicle by sitting on it.
After several hours of detention Yvonne was brought out of the cell and taken to a side room to see her partner. Under pressure from her partner, Yvonne finally gave her name, date of birth and address to the Custody Sergeant who only then advised her, that following review, he was satisfied that no crime had in fact been committed and the fact that she could now be released.
Notwithstanding these assurances, Yvonne was in fact kept in custody for a further 3 hours during which she was obliged to provide her fingerprints, under threat of force and further detention, and she was finally released shortly before midnight, having been detained for almost 11 hours.
No further action, of course, was taken against her.
I pursued a claim for wrongful arrest on behalf of Yvonne which Hertfordshire Police initially denied. Following court proceedings, Yvonne received a settlement of £40,000 and her legal fees together with a letter of apology.
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