Our Actions Against the Police team are pleased to confirm that we have now settled a claim against Kent police for our client DS & his family and they will pay him compensation plus legal costs.
DS was arrested upon attendance at the police station for a pre-arranged appointment. They sought to justify the arrest on the basis that it was necessary in order to then conduct a search of his home address. However, police did not know where he lived and the search was authorised of his parents’ home. The police either simply assumed this was his home or they deliberately calculated that exasperated parents would tell them his real address if they harassed them enough. The arrest justification was also questionable as there was no clear link between IT equipment they were looking for and the suspected offending they were investigating.
We brought proceedings for false imprisonment, assault, trespass and breach of data protection and breach of article 8 ECHR.
Duncan Burtwell comments:
Police appear to be slowly accepting that they cannot as a matter of course arrest someone just because they are suspected of an offence. Voluntary interviews are often an entirely reasonable alternative. Police now have to justify their decision to arrest and often, (as in this case) justifications offered may be tenuous. If so, you may well be looking at a possible claim for false imprisonment.
