Parents arrested for WhatsApps say police have paid £20k damages

A couple who were arrested after making complaints about their daughter's primary school, which included comments made on WhatsApp, say police have paid them £20,000 in damages.

Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen told the Times in March they were held for 11 hours on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property.

Hertfordshire Police previously said the arrests "were necessary to fully investigate the allegations".

Ms Levine, from Borehamwood, told the BBC police had accepted liability for unlawful arrest and paid damages of £20,000, plus costs. BBC News has asked Hertfordshire Police to comment.

Ms Levine added she was "very pleased" with the outcome.

"We can now begin to put this whole episode behind us," she said.

The couple were arrested in January but, two months later, the force said no further action would be taken

According to the Times, the couple said they were banned from entering Cowley Hill Primary School in Borehamwood after questioning the recruitment process for a head teacher and criticising the leadership in a parents' WhatsApp group.

The parents said they emailed the school "regularly" following the ban to address issues relating to the needs of their daughter, who has epilepsy, is neurodivergent, and is registered disabled.

The school said it sought advice from police after a "high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts" that it said was upsetting for staff, parents and governors.

An officer issued a warning to the family in December, telling them to take their daughter out of school, which they did the next month.

But a week after that, on 29 January, Mr Allen said six police officers turned up at his home.

Mr Allen, who is a Times Radio producer, denied using abusive or threatening language, "even in private".

The force revealed it was reviewing the investigation, and Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: "There has clearly been a fundamental breakdown in relationships between a school and parents that shouldn't have become a police matter."

Cowley Hill Primary School contacted police after claiming the parents' private and public communications had caused upset

Ms Levine said earlier that she still had concerns about "how and why our arrests were signed off by an inspector".

"That decision severely impacted both our children. 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 the chief constable will ensure that this never happens again."