Deletion of records from Police systems
The general rule in law is that if someone is arrested, whether or not they are charged with a criminal offence, details of their arrest, along with their photograph and any samples taken e.g. fingerprints and DNA, are stored on Police databases.
In July 2016 our expert solicitor Galwinder Kang was instructed by a serving Police Inspector to pursue a civil action against his own police force for matters including unlawful arrest, unlawful imprisonment and an unlawful search of his home address.
Our client was arrested in June 2016 by Police Officers from his own Police Force, following a complaint of a domestic nature made by his estranged wife. Our client fully co-operated with the investigation. The allegation was weak, and nothing came of it.
Galwinder Kang challenged the Police’s ‘arrest first, question later’ policy. He argued the arrest was unnecessary. Alternatives should have been used.
The arrest, although no prosecution followed, left a stain on our client’s character because details of the arrest were recorded on the Police National Computer. This had an adverse effect on our client’s employment prospects. Our client felt so strongly about this, that he instructed Murria Solicitors to challenge the Police Force without support from the Police Federation.
The objective was to reinstate our client’s good name.
Claims of wrongful arrest, false unlawful imprisonment, unlawful search and breach of human rights, were submitted to the Police Constabulary. The Police force admitted part of the claims, but it was adamant that the initial arrest was lawful. It was important for our client to establish the initial arrest was unlawful so that he could use that to have his arrest details deleted in accordance with ACPO guidelines.
Galwinder Kang vigorously pursued our client’s case. Despite strenuous objection from the Police Force, he eventually managed to reach an amicable out of court settlement. The Police Force paid our client monetary damages (which he donated to a charity) and approved our client’s application for deletion of his record of arrest.
In addition, the Police force paid our client’s legal costs.
This case was an example of a case which is not a high value case in monetary terms but extremely valuable to our client in non-monetary terms.
Our solicitors offer specialist advice and assistance on claims related to wrongful arrests and false imprisonment. If you believe you may have been falsely imprisoned or wrongfully arrested, call our expert solicitors on 0333 800 0033