Avon & Somerset Police used hate crime footage without consent

The woman, known as Miss A to protect her identity, tried to take her own life after the hate crime ordeal

The victim of an autism hate crime has received a £7,000 pay out after a police force used footage of her in a training video without her consent.

"Miss A" from North Somerset was left so distraught by the crime in October 2019 she tried to take her own life.

She only became aware the footage was being used by police three months later when an officer said she recognised her "from a recent training video".

Avon and Somerset Police has apologised and admitted a data breach.

It said its use of the bodyworn video footage featuring her and showing an officer de-escalating the situation was "well intentioned".

Safeguarding concern

Her solicitors at Hayes Connor said: "We understand that Miss A was asked to provide consent to it being used in this way and she indicated that she wanted to see the footage first and also that she would want any identifying features removed.

"The defendant [Avon and Somerset Police] made enquiries about pixelating the footage and was told this was possible but would take a considerable time."

Miss A said she felt ashamed, degraded and anxious as to who else may have seen the footage, as it was potentially viewed by dozens of officers.

She asked for it to be destroyed but the force only confirmed it would not use the footage of her any more, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She was also upset that officers had disclosed details of her ordeal to her manager, despite it being unrelated to her work.

The force said it had incorrectly shared information with her manager out of safeguarding concerns.

It said any harm caused to Miss A was unintentional and it would take any opportunities to learn from the case.