Two parents who were arrested after complaining about their daughter's primary school on WhatsApp have said they felt 'vindicated' after Hertfordshire police admitted the arrest was unlawful and agreed to pay £20,000 in compensation.
Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen were held at a police station for 11 hours in January after six uniformed officers arrested them on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property. The couple had previously been banned from entering Cowley Hill primary school in Borehamwood after criticising its headteacher and leadership in a parents' WhatsApp group.
Hertfordshire police initially defended the arrest, saying it was necessary to fully investigate the allegations. However, the force's lawyers later admitted the criteria for arrest under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 were not met, 'therefore rendering the arrest unlawful'. The force agreed a payout of £10,000 each to Allen, 50, and Levine, 47.
Allen, a Times Radio producer, said: 'We do feel vindicated. We are pleased that they recognised this was a pretty serious mistake.' He added that the incident had impacted their three-year-old daughter, who witnessed her mother being led away by police. Levine described the arrest as 'a really horrible experience', saying she lost her liberty and freedom.
The school said it had sought advice from police after a 'high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts' that it claimed had become upsetting for staff, parents and governors. After their ban, the couple emailed the school regularly about the needs of their disabled daughter. An officer warned them in December, leading them to remove their daughter from the school a week before the arrests.
A Hertfordshire police spokesperson said: 'Whilst there are no issues of misconduct involving any officer in relation to this matter, Hertfordshire Constabulary has accepted liability solely on the basis that the legal test around necessity of arrest was not met in this instance.' Levine welcomed the admission but expressed concern about others who may have similar experiences, calling for change across police forces.
