Parents ‘get £20k payout’ after unlawful arrest over school WhatsApp row
A couple who were arrested after complaining about their daughter’s primary school on WhatsApp said they had agreed to pay £20,000 from police after they admitted their arrest was unlawful.
Rosalind Levine and her partner Maxie Allen were detained in front of their young daughter by six Hertfordshire police officers on January 29 before being held at a police station for 11 hours over school-related complaints.
They were arrested on suspicion of harassment, malicious communication and creating a disturbance on school property. The couple said the arrest came after their nine-year-old daughter Sascha’s school, Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, objected to them sending multiple emails and criticism of the parents’ WhatsApp group.
The disturbing messages were never disclosed to the couple, and they said the “most interesting thing” parents found when they looked at the group chat was that Ms Levine had called a senior person at the school a “control freak”.
According to the couple, Hertfordshire Police initially defended the arrest but have now accepted it was unlawful and agreed to pay £20,000 in compensation plus costs.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Mr Allen said: “What was really important for us was the responsibility that comes with the unlawfulness of the arrest.
“That was the most important thing for us, because for us it was the realization that this was something that shouldn’t have happened, and what happened actually victimized a lot of people. So, apart from us, there was our three-year-old daughter who was there when the police came to our house, our other daughter who missed her parents that day, our neighbors and family members who burst into tears.
“So this is a sign of vindication, not just for us, but for a lot of people,” he said.
Asked how the children have coped since the incident, Ms Levine told The Independent: “The girls are doing well but it has been a stressful time for them too. At the center of it all is a vulnerable little child who has been forgotten at times, who has had to change schools and leave all her friends behind.”
“Thankfully he has settled in beautifully at his new school and everyone there has been incredible. Our youngest, Francesca, is also doing well. She started school in September and is doing incredibly well. Hopefully, in time, we can all put this nightmare behind us. In the meantime, we are pleased that the police have acknowledged that this arrest was unlawful and should never have happened.”
Ms Levine described the moment she opened the door to a “swarm of officers” because she thought they would call to tell her daughters Sascha had died.
“He has epilepsy, and people can die from epilepsy, and I was sure that’s what they were going to tell me. They didn’t tell me right away why they were there. They asked me to go into the house, which I walked in, and then they asked me to go into the living room.”
“It was probably no more than 30 seconds. But I can say that those 30 seconds were the worst, because at that moment I knew Sascha was dead. Thank God I was wrong and I was relieved when he was arrested.”
Allegedly, the couple had been in conflict with the school for several months. Times, after they were banned from entering the building, including being prevented from attending a parents’ night out for their daughter Sascha, who has epilepsy, neurodivergence and a registered disability.
Lawyers for the force admitted this month that criteria for arrest under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act were not specified, making the arrest unlawful. According to the newspaper, Hertfordshire Constabulary agreed to pay £10,000 to Mr Allen and Ms Levine, stating that the sum was significantly above what is required by case law.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: “Whilst there is no issue of misconduct by any officer in relation to this matter, Hertfordshire Constabulary has accepted liability solely on the basis that the statutory test for the need to arrest in this case was not met.
“Therefore, Mr. Haddow-Allen and Ms. Levine were wrongfully arrested and detained in January 2025. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
