A mother of two was left to stew in a police custody cell for more than seven hours after she confiscated two iPads belonging to her children – and was accused of theft.
Vanessa Brown, a 50-year-old history teacher, revealed the ‘unspeakable devastation and trauma’ she suffered after being taken to Staines police station.
Ms Brown was searched and had custody photographs and fingerprints taken after taking away her daughters’ devices in an attempt to ensure they were not distracted from their studies.
Surrey Police, who also visited the children’s school, pulling one of Ms Brown’s daughters out of class, have since acknowledged their error. The force said they swooped after getting a report of a theft from a man in his 40s.
Ms Brown was apprehended at her mother’s home in Cobham, Surrey, to which she was eventually returned only after a 12-hour ordeal that, due to her bail conditions, threatened to prevent her from seeing her children on Mother’s Day.
The incident, which follows the arrest of a couple in Hertfordshire over complaints they made about their daughter’s primary school, is likely to raise further questions about police priorities.
‘I find it quite traumatic even talking about this now,’ Ms Brown told LBC.
‘They were able to send a police car with police officers to my children’s school, they were able to send another police car or two to arrest me.
‘I know people are making reports of thefts, of assaults and very violent crimes in and around our neighbourhood, and they’re not getting a response for days.
History teacher Vanessa Brown said she suffered ‘unspeakable devastation and trauma’ after she was left to stew in a policy custody cell for more than seven hours
Ms Brown was held at Staines police station, above, after a report concerning two stolen two iPads. In fact, the devices belonged to her children, from whom she had confiscated them
‘I cannot get to the bottom of why it was done in such a quick turnaround, maybe less than an hour – all these police cars and police officers going to an address over a completely false report of a theft.’
She said the heavy-handed approach of police, who took more than 24 hours from the moment she was arrested to inform her that no further action would be taken, had left her in a ‘catatonic state’.
‘At no point did they think to themselves, “Oh, this is a little bit of an overreaction,”‘ said Ms Brown. ‘It was thoroughly unprofessional. They were speaking to my mother, who is in her 80s, like she was a criminal.’
The Tory MP Anthony Stansfeld, the former police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley, called on police to apologise for their inexpert handling of the incident.
‘It seems to me incompetence and a certain amount of overzealousness at a junior level, which the local inspector should have put a rapid stop to,’ he said.
‘It was quite unnecessary to put a reputable 50-year-old history teacher into a cell for seven hours.
‘It’s hardly likely that she would have absconded abroad and I would hope that the chief constable goes and apologises personally to the poor lady.’
A Surrey Police spokesman said a man in his 40s had alerted them to the possible theft of the iPads, prompting a search for the devices.
‘A tracking device on the iPads showed that they were at the address and a 50-year-old woman from Cobham was arrested on suspicion of theft,’ said the spokesperson.
‘A search was then carried out using post-arrest powers and the iPads were located.
‘The woman was subsequently released on conditional bail while further enquiries were carried out.
‘The police bail conditions included not speaking to her daughters, who were connected to the investigation, while officers carried out their enquiries.
‘Following these enquiries, officers discovered that the iPads belonged to the woman’s children and that she was entitled to confiscate items from her own children.’
In a separate incident last month, the parents of two young children were locked in a police cell for eleven hours after complaining on WhatsApp about the teacher recruitment process at their daughter’s primary school.
Times Radio producer Maxie Allen and his partner Rosalind Levine were arrested on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications after a ‘trivial’ dispute.
CCTV showed six uniformed police officers descending on their suburban home before they were led away in front of their crying daughter.
After a five-week investigation, Hertfordshire Constabulary finally concluded there was no case to answer.
Mr Allen, 50, branded the police action ‘dystopian’ and a ‘massive overreach’, and accused Cowley Hill Primary School in Borehamwood, Herts, of trying to ‘silence awkward parents’.
‘I was just in complete disbelief,’ he said. ‘It was just unfathomable to me that things had escalated to this degree.
‘It was absolutely nightmarish. I couldn’t believe this was happening, that a public authority could use the police to close down a legitimate inquiry.’
Hertfordshire Police said the number of officers was needed to secure electronic devices and care for children at the address.
A spokesman said: ‘The arrests were necessary to fully investigate the allegations as is routine in these types of matters. Following further investigations, officers deemed that no further action should be taken due to insufficient evidence.’
