Latest news with #wrongfularrest
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
Pensioner receives police payout over ‘thought crime' tweet
A retired special constable has been given compensation of £20,000 after being wrongly arrested over a social media post warning about rising anti-Semitism. Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, Kent, was handcuffed at his home by six officers after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X. Kent Police officers searched his home and commented on his 'very Brexity' book collection. The force detained the 71-year-old for eight hours, interrogated and issued him with a caution after officers visited his home on Nov 2 2023. Earlier this month, Kent Police confirmed that the caution was a mistake and had been deleted from Mr Foulkes's record. Tim Smith, the force's chief constable, later phoned Mr Foulkes personally to offer an apology for the 'ordeal he endured'. Now, in a letter sent to Mr Foulkes' solicitors, the force reiterated Mr Smith's apology for the 'distress caused by the actions of his officers' . It also confirmed Kent Police would agree to an out-of-court settlement after Mr Foulkes launched a legal challenge, supported by the Free Speech Union (FSU), against the force for wrongful arrest and detention. The letter, sent by a lawyer for the force, read: 'I am instructed to accept the offer of early resolution without recourse to litigation by payment of compensation in the sum of £20,000 plus your client's reasonable legal fees in full and final settlement of all prospective claims arising from his arrest on Nov 2 2023.' Mr Foulkes told The Telegraph he was 'naturally pleased that Kent Police had been swift to follow their apology with compensation'. 'However, this was never about money,' he said. 'For me, it was a simple matter of right and wrong and I now need to see that the full investigation I have been promised takes place and necessary actions are taken to prevent any recurrence.' On Friday, Kent Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over the incident. Mr Foulkes added: 'I have been very fortunate in receiving superb assistance from the FSU and I would like to thank them once again for their help and support.' Police body-worn camera footage captured officers scrutinising Mr Foulkes's collection of books by authors such as Douglas Murray, a Telegraph contributor, and issues of The Spectator, pointing to what they described as 'very Brexity things'. Mr Foulkes's X post replied to an activist threatening to sue Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time, for calling pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London ' hate marches '. In the post, sent two days before police visited his home, Mr Foulkes wrote: 'One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…' Mr Foulkes's X post was referring to news reports of an anti-Semitic mob that stormed an airport in Dagestan, Russia, looking for Jewish passengers. On Nov 2, six officers arrived at Mr Foulkes's home, armed with batons and pepper spray. He was arrested, fingerprinted, photographed and swabbed for DNA. After his home was searched, the retired special constable was locked in a police cell for eight hours and interrogated on suspicion of malicious communications. Fearing that further escalation could impact his ability to visit his daughter, who lives in Australia, he accepted a caution despite having committed no offence. Matt Elkins, director of Legisia Legal Services, who helped get Mr Foulkes's police record deleted, said while the compensation was welcome as this had 'never been about money but about correcting an injustice '. He said: 'The police don't always admit they're in the wrong, so I think Kent Police should be acknowledged for their prompt mea culpa. 'The compensation is, of course, a good starting point, but I hope this is just a first step towards some deep introspection from the police, and some constructive changes.' 'End of the beginning' Dr Bryn Harris, chief legal counsel for the FSU, said: 'The [FSU] is pleased to see that Kent Police has done the right thing and apologised to Julian, with due compensation. 'This is, however, merely the end of the beginning – we now need to see a full and credible investigation into the outrageous violations of Julian's basic freedoms. 'Kent Police must ensure that the distress to Julian, and the cost to the taxpayer, result in lessons learnt and a realisation that policing by consent requires a police service worthy of the consent of free citizens.' Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said it was 'disgraceful' that Mr Foulkes had been 'investigated and harassed in the first place'. He added: 'Police should be catching real criminals, not wasting time on non-criminal social media posts. 'This has happened again and again and the officers responsible for this shocking incident need to be held responsible. ' Police chiefs need to get a grip and end this nonsense.' Mr Philp also called on the Government to support his proposed amendment to Labour's Crime and Policing Bill, and 'abolish non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) '. The amendment will seek to block police forces keeping records on individuals who have not broken the law but are accused of expressing views or behaviour deemed offensive. The Conservatives previously said they were putting forward the amendment because it was 'clear the use of NCHIs has spiralled out of control'.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Father dragged away from his dying daughter's hospital bedside by police faces legal bill of up to £100,000 after losing wrongful arrest case
A father who was forcibly dragged away from his dying daughter's hospital bedside by police is now facing a legal bill of up to £100,000 after losing his wrongful arrest case. Dr Rashid Abbasi, an NHS consultant, had brought a civil claim against Northumbria Police for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, and assault and battery following the harrowing incident at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. Disturbing police bodycam footage showed Dr Abbasi shouting 'b*******' and biting officers as they restrained and removed him from the children's intensive care unit in August 2019. The five-day trial at Newcastle Crown Court ended with a judge condemning Dr Abbasi and describing his behaviour as the spark for the violent incident in the paediatric unit. He also described who described Dr Abbasi as a 'menace' on the ward. Now, six years after the incident, the father faces a massive legal bill. He will have to cover not only his own costs but also between 60 and 70 per cent of the legal fees incurred by Northumbria Police. This bill is estimated to be anywhere from £50,000 to £100,000, the Mirror reports. Despite attempts by Dr Abbasi to recover some of the costs through a one-way cost shifting regime, it is understood that the police opposed the move, and the judge is expected to reject it. This means Dr Abbasi will be liable for tens of thousands of pounds in costs. Recorder James Murphy, who presided over the case, said police footage showed Dr Abbasi instigated the violence in the hospital ward. The ruling dealt a heavy blow to Dr Abbasi, who had previously expressed deep distress at being removed from his daughter Zainab's bedside shortly after her life support was withdrawn. In court, the judge said there was sufficient reason for police to believe a breach of the peace was imminent. He added: 'If I was a bystander having watched this footage, a reasonable description would have been that Dr Abbasi was a coiled spring waiting to breach the peace.' Following the verdict, Dr Abbasi said the judge's description of him as a 'menace' was 'unwarranted' and 'hurtful,' and that the video footage 'tells its own story.' He added that the officers accepted he was not aggressive or threatening before they laid hands on him. Rashid Abbasi, his wife Aliya and another relative, are seen at Zainab's bedside as police enter the ward The incident involving Dr Abbasi took place at Newcastle's Great North Children's Hospital - which was named after an injunction was lifted by the Court of Appeal in 2020. The Court of Appeal also allowed the naming of the doctors in charge of Zainab's care, but this was appealed by the NHS trusts involved. However, the Supreme Court last month unanimously dismissed the appeal - allowing the medics to be identified. Dr Abbasi's arrest came after the he and his wife were involved in a protracted dispute with doctors over the care of their critically ill daughter. The six-year-old was suffering from respiratory problems and a rare genetic illness called Niemann-Pick disease, which meant she was likely to die during childhood. Medics insisted Zainab should be allowed to die but Dr and Mrs Abbasi fought for further treatment that they were convinced would keep her alive. The couple clashed with Zainab's doctors for years over her treatment. They said that on two previous occasions when Zainab was critically ill they had successfully argued for her to be treated with steroids instead of having life support withdrawn, and were proved correct when her condition improved. After her admission to hospital in July 2019, Dr and Mrs Abbasi believed that, while their daughter was dangerously ill, she could survive with the right care. But the following month on August 19, doctors told the Abbasis that Zainab was dying. An audio recording revealed how one doctor told them that 'the next steps would involve taking her off the ventilator'. Rashid and Aliya pleaded for further tests, but one of the doctors refused, saying the process of moving Zainab on to palliative care needed to start 'straight away'. Rashid told them they would have to get a court order to do so. Urged again to carry out more tests, the doctor replied 'We are not going to be doing any more going round in circles', adding: 'You will never come to terms with this.'
NHK
5 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan appeals court orders state, Tokyo to pay damages over false accusation
A Japanese appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling and ordered the central and Tokyo Metropolitan governments to pay increased damages over the wrongful arrest and detention of three people accused of illegal exports. The court also recognized the investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and prosecutors as unlawful. On Wednesday, the Tokyo High Court ordered the governments to pay over 166 million yen, or about 1.15 million dollars, in damages to the three plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are two executives and the bereaved family of another executive of Japanese chemical machinery manufacturer Ohkawara Kakohki. In 2020, Tokyo police arrested the three executives of the Yokohama-based company for allegedly exporting illegally to China and elsewhere machinery that could be converted for military use. Although they were indicted, prosecutors later dropped the charges in a rare move, and the three men were declared innocent. The plaintiffs sued the central and Tokyo governments, claiming that they suffered due to the illegal investigations. In the ruling on Wednesday, the Tokyo High Court's Presiding Judge Ota Teruyoshi said the Tokyo police's decision not to conduct the additional investigations that are usually required to determine whether a product is subject to export control lacked a rational basis. He added that the prosecutors had no reasonable basis to suspect the defendants of guilt. In 2023, the Tokyo District Court had ordered the two governments to pay damages worth over 162 million yen, or about 1.12 million dollars, to the plaintiffs.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Officer who arrested Ximena Arias-Cristobal resigns from department
The officer who pulled over and arrested Georgia college student Ximena Arias-Cristobal, 19, has resigned from the department. City officials confirmed that Office Leslie O'Neal resigned from his position as a Dalton Police Department officer. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Arias-Cristobal, who is undocumented, was arrested earlier this month after police say she made an illegal right turn and was driving without a valid license. She spent more than two weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody before being granted a $1,500 bond earlier this week. After her arrest, Dalton police said that she was mistakenly pulled over. They say the officer involved intended to pull over another vehicle who had made an illegal right turn. RELATED STORIES: 'It changed me': Undocumented GA college student talks about being in ICE custody for 15 days Traffic stop lands GA college student in ICE custody 2 weeks after same thing happened to father Georgia college student gets bond at immigration hearing after mistaken arrest ICE still plans to deport Georgia college student arrested after wrongful traffic stop GA student taken into ICE custody after traffic stop pulled over by mistake, police say Marjorie Taylor Greene weighs in on college student facing deportation after wrongful traffic stop Arias-Cristobal was reunited with her family in north Georgia late Thursday night. She spoke with Channel 2's Audrey Washington over the phone on Friday. 'Even with all the bad and a situation that no one wants to be in, I'm super grateful to have experienced what I've experienced,' she said. She has lived in the United States since her parents brought her from Mexico at just 4 years old. 'We're going to keep working on her case to try to keep her here permanently,' Arias-Cristobal's attorney, Dustin Baxter, said. 'She doesn't have a permanent relative or citizen, spouse, parent or child. But if Dad wins his case, then she would have that qualifying relative.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Distraught father dragged away from his dying six-year-old daughter's intensive care bedside by police loses legal fight against the force
A distraught father who sued police after he was dragged away from his dying daughter's hospital bedside has lost his legal fight against the force. Shocking footage obtained by The Mail on Sunday showed Dr Rashid Abbasi, an NHS consultant, being wrenched from six-year-old Zainab shortly after he was told her life support was being withdrawn. The harrowing film from a police body camera captured him being forcibly removed from a children's intensive care unit in August 2019 by an officer holding him by the neck. Mr Abbasi's wife Aliya, a former doctor, was also grabbed from behind, pulled from the bedside and fell backwards on to the floor of the hospital ward screaming. The 64-year-old subsequently brought a civil claim for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and assault and battery against Northumbria Police. However, Mr Abbasi's case was rejected today by a judge, who described Mr Abbasi as a 'menace' on the ward. Judge Recorder James Murphy said there was more than sufficient grounds for the police to believe there was an imminent risk of a breach of peace. He concluded that Mr Abbasi's rights were 'not curtailed' and it therefore did not constitute a wrongful arrest or assault. Mr Murphy said according to The Mirror: 'I would be very surprised that a member of the public let alone a police officer would not have decided there was likely to be a breach of the peace.' 'If I was a bystander having watched this footage, a reasonable description would have been that Dr Abbasi was a coiled spring waiting to breach the peace,' he added. Mr Abbasi was said to have become 'very angry' when he was told he could not return to the hospital to visit his daughter. Staff reportedly found his behaviour 'intimidating' and security was called. However, speaking after the ruling, Mr Abbasi said the description of him as a menace was 'unwarranted' and 'hurtful'. He said: 'At court this week, the officers accepted that, from the time when they arrived until the time they laid hands on me, I was not acting aggressively. 'They accepted that I was not threatening anyone. They accepted that I was not intimidating anyone. 'I am disappointed therefore that the arrest was held to be lawful and the description of me by the judge as a menace was unwarranted and hurtful and is not borne out by the video footage which tells its own story. 'I will be seeking advice from my lawyers in respect of an appeal.' The incident involving Mr Abbasi took place in a hospital in the North of England that the Mail cannot name for legal reasons. It came after the parents were involved in a protracted dispute with doctors over the care of their critically ill daughter. The six-year-old was suffering from respiratory problems and a rare genetic illness called Niemann-Pick disease, which meant she was likely to die during childhood. Medics insisted Zainab should be allowed to die but Mr and Mrs Abbasi fought for further treatment that they were convinced would keep her alive. The couple clashed with Zainab's doctors for years over her treatment. They said that on two previous occasions when Zainab was critically ill they had successfully argued for her to be treated with steroids instead of having life support withdrawn, and were proved correct when her condition improved. After her admission to hospital in July 2019, Mr and Mrs Abbasi believed that, while their daughter was dangerously ill, she could survive with the right care. But the following month on August 19, doctors told the Abbasis that Zainab was dying. An audio recording revealed how one doctor told them that 'the next steps would involve taking her off the ventilator'. Rashid and Aliya pleaded for further tests, but one of the doctors refused, saying the process of moving Zainab on to palliative care needed to start 'straight away'. Rashid told them they would have to get a court order to do so. Urged again to carry out more tests, the doctor replied 'We are not going to be doing any more going round in circles', adding: 'You will never come to terms with this.' The medics then attempted to hand the couple a letter restricting Mr Abbasi's visiting hours amid claims that staff felt 'threatened and intimidated' by him. Dr Abbasi, a respiratory expert who works at a different hospital, stormed out of the meeting but hospital staff then called police, claiming he pushed a senior doctor who attempted to prevent him returning to his daughter's bedside. Half an hour later, four police officers and two security guards gathered at Zainab's bedside where the devastated Abbasis and one of their sons were quietly comforting her. The bodycam footage shows how officers asked on a number of occasions for Mr Abbasi to leave his daughter's bedside and talk to them outside the ward but he refused. Mrs Abbasi suggested the officers talk to her husband at the bedside. She pleaded with them to show 'compassion', saying: 'We were just informed they were going to take the tube out of our daughter.' But after just over five minutes, an officer gave Mr Abbasi a final warning before wrenching him away from his daughter. One officer held his neck as he was dragged in his chair away from the bedside, the footage shows. After being forced on to the floor, Mr Abbasi, who suffers from serious heart problems, complained of 'chest pain', only to be told: 'You've brought this on yourself.' The officers are seen claiming that Mr Abbasi kicked and bit them during the struggle. Mr Abbasi denies the claims. 'You are acting like an animal,' the female officer tells Rashid, firmly adding: 'Your behaviour in front of your child is disgusting' Mr Abbasi previously told the Mail on Sunday: 'The pictures speak for themselves. They behaved like barbarians. They were not prepared to listen. My daughter was given a death sentence half an hour before they arrived.' Mr Abbasi was taken to accident and emergency, where officers later de-arrested him. He said he was told he had suffered a heart attack and the next day he underwent an emergency angioplasty. Following the incident, the NHS trust applied to the High Court for permission to take Zainab off the ventilator, but on September 16, just three days before the hearing was due to start, Zainab died. Dr Abbasi's solicitor, Daniel Cooper, said today: 'Our client was sitting peacefully by his dying daughter's bedside, when police officers decided to drag him away. 'As the body worn footage shows, the force they used to do so was brutal, painful, and highly inappropriate given our client was a grieving father on a children's intensive care ward. 'In evidence, the officers accepted that, from the time when they arrived to the time they laid hands on our client, he was not acting aggressively. 'They accepted that he was not threatening anyone. They accepted that he was not intimidating anyone. 'We do not consider that it was reasonable for the arresting officer, PC Baxter, to form a belief that our client was going to imminently breach the peace. 'We are therefore disappointed the arrest was found to be lawful. We will be advising our client on the merits of an appeal in due course.'
