Compensation for Man After False Imprisonment

Falsely Imprisoned by Police

18/04/2008

A man has received £4000 compensation after being falsely imprisoned by police.

Mr X was arrested by police at 11am on the 31st August 2006 for entering Drax Power station after climbing over a fence along with others.

Following his arrest, Mr X was immediately detained in the cage of the back of a police minibus where he was kept for 5 hours with only one piece of fruit to eat.

Mr X was then transferred to a prison transport lorry which had individual cells and was driven to York Police Station.

Whilst at York Police Station, Mr X waited in the lorry whilst the rest of the people on board were processed. He was one of the last to leave the lorry and was formally booked into the police station at around 9.00 pm. During the time in the lorry, Mr X was offered no access to toilets, no food or drink.

After being booked into the police station, Mr X was offered nothing to eat or drink and was taken to a cell. It was only upon repeated requests that he was given some food and water.

Mr X was eventually released between 1pm and 2pm on the 1st September 2006.

The settlement was reached with help from Ifti Manzoor of Irwin Mitchell's Police Actions team after it was agreed that Mr X's imprisonment was manifestly excessive and had no legal justification.

He said, "In all, Mr X was kept in the back of a police minibus for around 5 hours and thereafter in the back of a prison transport lorry for another 5 hours. There can be no legal justification for this delay.

"Whilst in the back of the police lorry at York Police Station, Mr X was not afforded any toilet facilities for several hours and was not given any food or drink. It is the responsibility of the police to take care of people who have been arrested.

"Whilst we appreciate that there may have been a number of arrests, the nature and period of this detention was excessive."