Parents Win Damages After Unlawful Arrest Over School Complaints

Concerns about unlawful arrest have resurfaced in Hertfordshire after a couple received £20,000 in damages following their detention for complaints they made about their daughter’s primary school, including remarks shared in a private WhatsApp group.

Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen, from Borehamwood, were arrested earlier this year and held for 11 hours on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property. The arrests came after months of dispute between the family and Cowley Hill Primary School over the support provided to their daughter, who has epilepsy, is neurodivergent, and is registered disabled.

Ms Levine told the BBC that Hertfordshire Police had accepted liability for the unlawful arrest and agreed to pay £20,000 in damages, along with costs. She said she was “very pleased” with the outcome and hoped to “begin to put this whole episode behind us”.

The situation escalated in late 2023 when the couple questioned the school’s recruitment process for a new head teacher and criticised aspects of leadership in a parents’ WhatsApp group. According to reports, they were later banned from entering the school grounds. The family said they continued to raise concerns via email, arguing their daughter’s needs had not been addressed.

The school later sought advice from the police, citing what it called a high volume of correspondence and social media posts that staff and governors found distressing. An officer warned the family in December that they should consider removing their daughter from the school. They withdrew her the following month.

A week later, on 29 January, six police officers arrived at the family’s home to make the arrests. Mr Allen, a Times Radio producer, said he had never used abusive or threatening language “even in private”.

Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, said the incident should never have escalated to a criminal matter. “There has clearly been a fundamental breakdown in relationships between a school and parents that should not have become a police matter,” he said.

Ms Levine has previously questioned the decision-making behind the arrests. “Our three-year-old had to witness her parents being taken away by a swarm of police officers, and my 80-year-old mother became physically ill over it later that day,” she said. “I hope that our case will highlight failings within the constabulary and that lessons will be learned.”

The force has confirmed it is reviewing the investigation. For readers seeking information about police accountability processes, guidance is available from independent watchdogs such as the police complaints system.

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