Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine arrested - The vindictiveness of the school and police overreach

[Everanewbie]

AIBU to worry that this type of incident seems to be happening more and more? To me, there are several concerning aspects to this story. Here is a link if you aren't yet aware.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/29/parents-arrested-by-hertfordshire-police-for-complaining-about-daughters-school

Firstly, the apparent opaqueness of a public organisation and attempts to shut down private conversation and the vindictiveness the school has shown in attempting to silence this couple.

Secondly, the treatment of the pupil whereby she is being dropped off an escorted into school, and inability to discuss he disability and SEN with teachers, leading to multiple emails that were ultimately used against the couple.

And thirdly, WTF are the police doing? 6 Officers to arrest a meek professional couple, in front of their daughter. Holding them in a cell for 11 hours? Why are the police not dismissing this out of hand? I have always tried to be a supporter of the police, but how can reasonable people continue to accept this when they wont attend a burglary or detain shoplifters, but turn up in force for a middle class couple who called a governor a control freak in a private conversation?

Whippy

You do not understand what bullying is then. Nope bullying is repeatedly doing things on purpose to cause harm. This arrest was one event and with the aim to prevent harm. Again you lack understanding of what bullying is.

I see that it is you who doesn't understand the word bullying. They did nothing with the intent of causing fear, or harm. The acting head did, by ordering parents not to discuss school business, lwith the threat of arrest and actually having the couple arrested.

Also she is not asking people to stop arguing with her. By all means do it, you are going against what you believe in that you think that anyone can say what they want to anyone no matter what.

I didn't say that they can say what they like, without limits. As you know, the Police found no evidence of wrong doing, yet you persist in your fantasy that they are libellous bullies. You are arguing with no facts.

Letters informing people to stop are the norm.

If that's the case, I could, if I wished, send you a letter, instructing you to stop disagreeing with me. And you'd be perfectly legally entitled to roll your eyes and ignore it, just as the parents did.

Quite why you persist in pretending that the parents were in the wrong is mystifying. The Police found no case to answer, there was no bullying or harassment.

Are you the former acting hea?

You don't think schools have ever done illegal things or behaved in a way that is unacceptable?

I'd really love to have your conviction and naivety.

So there is nothing the school did that meets the definition of bullying. Some ppl have no idea and rattle out the word when someone gets upset. It doesn't mean hurty feelings! The school put in consequences or are you suggesting they bully all kids when they give out detentions?

The acting head did not give instructions not to discuss the school business. Clearly the letter has been misunderstood by yourself as that doesn't say that at all.

Glad you agree they cannot say things without limits. Meaning at some point that limit was breached and the school acted. While schools have a duty of care to safeguard kids they also have a duty of care to safeguard staff too. If someone is putting the staff at risk of harm then they can and will act. They also do not act on a whim. They have a legal team which they consult who also writes legal letters so this will have been shared with the legal team before consulting with the police.

The police did NFA but they didn't say no evidence. They said insufficient evidence. That means insufficient for a prosecution. Meaning the CPS were not satisfied there was enough to get a reasonable chance at prosecution. So yes they did have some just not enough. So you are wrong in saying they had none.

By all means send me a letter and it might be wise to leave MN if you are unable to cope with someone on a debating forum debating with you!

Ahh so as you now admit the parents ignored it and carried on! Carry on with harassing the member of staff! Well at least you accept they continued!

I am making no decisions about the parents at all so on that you are wrong. I am just not believing parents, I am being critical of what I am seeing as what they have said doesn't add up. The police said NFA. Doesn't mean it didn't happen. The police NFA'd my rape but that still happened and I had evidence. Just because police NFA something doesn't mean it hadn't happened. So no again you cannot say it didn't happen. It the police NFA something then that means neither you nor I know yet you are blindly stating you know what was in those CPS documents without it being released.

You admitted they continued when told to stop meaning if they did it twice after being told to stop that legally meets harassment. So no not a 'fantasy' as you put it, if that is you trying to label me as mental then that labels you firmly as being something in this society!

Oh that old chestnut? Why do you ask? Because I do not believe the same as you so anyone who does you have to try labelling them as the person involved in this? What an unusual thing to do. That would be called deflection to try and label me. Is there a reason why you think all who disagree with you and think critically are the DHT?

If you cannot cope with debating step away from MN. People in life will disagree with you and you do know that is ok. It is also OK for people not to accept things when they do not add up. For you you accept anything that others say as the truth and that is ok. You have a right to believe as have I.

It is ok for people to be critical of others when things do not add up as it is ok for you to believe what you see. You do know this, right?

If you find this concept a bit too tough then maybe do not debate. Surround yourself with people who agree with you.

I do think schools sometimes do things illegal and behave badly or unacceptable ways.

Why are you lying and making that up?

Could you please post where I have said this or else accept that you lied and fabricated things and went for the dramatic to try and pretend to others that I think this?

I hope you're not a teacher, whippy1981, throughout this thread you have been rude, aggressive, disingenuous and childish in your debating style.

I have not been aggressive at all! I have been matter of fact and stated very clearly the facts as we see them and without knowing part of the information which has been omitted on purpose I would like to know why that has been.

If you take that as rude then by all means. At no point have I been ready to attack anyone or have attacked anyone. That is a lie. Maybe you are being as others are suggesting the DHT as being - thin-skinned to criticism of the case.

Being childish in disagreeing with people? What a sad state of affairs when those bleating on about freedom of speech cannot cope with someone exercising that right to speak freely on a topic and debate. When others have name called me, when others have fabricated things about me and have blatantly lied, I have a right to respond to them and correct them.

What does me debating have anything to do with teachers?

I'm not even sure if you're serious right now?!

You've repeatedly stated that the school cannot have behaved badly because there is no way a school would call the police if there wasn't enough evidence, that they would have had legal advice and that there is no way they would have overreacted in order to intimidate parents. It's in the first line of your quote "Parents do not get banned for just asking questions".

You can't even see the irony of some of your posts.

I have not said what you just stated. You have lied and made something up to gain attention on here. I have never said schools never do things wrong. Ever.

As I stated please copy and paste where I said that schools have never acted unprofessionally or done things wrong. Again you are fabricating things because you think there is no middle ground.

So if I disagree I think all schools are perfect which I have never said. Complete fabrication.

Nope I didn't say that the school cannot have behaved badly. I have not even commented on if the school has behaved well or not. I have made no judgement on the school and their behaviour as we are yet to see what the parents have done as they have purposely omitted information. I have clearly stated they are within their rights to act if what has happened breaches the law. Which legally they are within their rights to do so to protect staff. So if you think me stating facts about the schools legal right and the school having a legal team is me saying schools never get it wrong then you are very much mistaken.

Schools do get it wrong sometimes. The people in schools are human. You are now pissed that I have said that and agreed with you!

Yes schools do have a legal team. That is the case and they do not act on legal issues without legal consultation. I have not said there is no way they would've over reacted. I have said that they would consult their legal team.

You think they over-reacted because you have gone off what the parents have said despite them keeping some information back and you've read the partial information and accepted it at face value. Because I am critical of why the parents would hide some information, you think I believe no school ever over react despite never saying such a thing.

Parents do not get banned for just asking questions, that is the truth. This is not what happened here though is it? They are not banned for asking questions. The parents themselves accept they have been badly behaved towards the staff and wanted to continue when asked to stop as it was causing distress. That is not asking a question.

"they have purposely omitted information"
I'm still not sure where you are getting this from but even if so, if it was really abusive or whatever the school had legal advice to say they could be arrested for and to call in the cops, why has that not gone further? The police said they found nothing. I am so confused as to why you persist in suggesting there is more to this when the police have actually said there isn't any evidence to charge.

Why do you keep editing your posts? I was about to start looking through your posts like you asked (before realising that would be a ridiculous waste of my time) and this one had been edited by the time I clicked back (less than 5 mins).

You also had the exact same farcical argument with another poster, who gave up in what appears sheer exasperation.

I look forward to your nonsensical, 500 word, twice edited reply 😀

So there is nothing the school did that meets the definition of bullying. Some ppl have no idea and rattle out the word when someone gets upset

Sorry, but that's absolute claptrap. Ordering parents not to discuss school matters and threatening them with arrest absolutely is bullying.

Your claim that the parents are bullies doesn't hold water, it's the same mentality of a six year old, who thinks that someone disagreeing with them is a bully.

Your bold claims are entirely unsupported by the facts, which are that the Police found no evidence and indeed, couldn't point out to the couple what was supposed to have been the abusive / bullying / harassing text.

I don't know where you get the idea that I'm incapable of debating, it's what I'm doing now. I base my comments on the known facts, whereas you are "what abouting." You have no evidence to back your claims. All of it counters what you say and I'm starting to think that you are arguing in bad faith, or maybe connected to the former acting head.

Nice deflection with the edit comment. Deflection that I agreed with you and so you now have to focus on something else because I said i agreed with you which pissed on your fabrication! ha!

Basically what you did was because I disagree with taking this at face value and am not critical of the school because I want to know what the parents have omitted and why then you think I am not critical of any school. Just because you are critical of this school I would be wrong to say you hate all schools. Which is kind of what you were doing as an opposite to me.

And when I agreed with you and said that sometimes schools get it wrong instead of being mature and accepting that you then deflect onto the edit button.

Please complain to MN to get the edit button removed. I can't wait to see you ask ppl who agree with you why they edit things too. Not sure you will because you only do that as deflection to me.

The information that they have shared is not all the conversations so yes some have been omitted.

The police will NFA for a whole host of reasons. As I stated before when I was raped the police NFA'd it saying lack of evidence when the rapist had confessed. The CPS make that decision not the police. The police didn't say they found nothing. They said insufficient evidence which means that the CPS think there isn't enough to get a successful prosecution. It doesn't mean there wasn't any.

They didn't order them to discuss school matters. So when the police come into schools and tell kids they shouldn't carry knives or start fires etc or they can be arrested that is the police bullying kids? How is it bullying telling someone to abide by the law and not cause harm?

The parents have admitted that they have repeatedly done things to this member of staff on purpose and it has caused upset.

The police found insufficient evidence. The police have not said they have no evidence. Insufficient doesn;t mean none. The police also do not make that judgement to NFA, the CPS do. So no the police have not said that. As stated before, when I was raped and the rapist confessed, the police said insufficient evidence in my case despite there being a confession. The CPS want the evidence to lead to a prosecution, if the CPS see what they have and think it is insufficient to lead to a prosecution they will say NFA. Which means no further action.

The known facts that the parents admitted to it and wanted to continue which meets the definition of harassment if they did.

So anyone who disagrees with you is linked to the acting head? How ludicrous! You do know that MN is a global site and millions can and do use it.

I wouldn't assume you are linked to the parents and all who agree with them are linked. That would be a bit pathetic to suggest that is the case. I think people can and do make their own minds up. Is that because you have nothing else and think that because you think what you do that only those linked to the acting head could think what I do?

People have their own minds. Sorry to burst your bubble. I can believe what I want based on the facts known. We know they did things and have admitted to it. We know they said they wanted to carry on. We also know they have omitted things.

By this logic 98% of rape allegations are untrue because only 2% result in a charge?

I have to say that @whippy1981 makes a pretty compelling point to me. I see nothing but reasoned points here. Because the majority feel certain things, that means nothing to me now based on the misinformed views I often see online.

Having my own struggles with school SEN issues, there absolutely is a way to conduct oneself through this. If there's evidence to show us that polite requests and Comms were blocked by the school for no good reason, I'm not ok with it. I'm not ok if a parent was threatened on the playground.

Various things can at once be true here.

With my own issues, I learnt about the legislation. I consulted free legal advice. I sought guidance online ANONYMOUSLY through certain groups not naming the school or teachers PUBLICLY because I understand that it can become a cesspit of toxicity. Private discussion remained private between myself and one other. I would personally never criticise an individual and instead would highlight problematic behaviour and why. That is something different. I also feel we aren't seeing all the messages.

Is there no higher governance board to which concerns can be raised to avoid these WhatsApp group toxic chats. I can believe there are genuine issues the family have with the school on some levels.

Context is incredibly important - a WhatsApp group of parents, including those with influence - yes, it feels toxic.

I am no fan of what I believe schools are capable of. What I have seen. Are there not better ways. This fuels the struggles we already have in the dynamic between parents and teachers.

What do teachers think about this,??

Will we ever hear from the school?

All schools have a complaints procedure which this couple chose not to use, but to harass and defame the chair of governors, who is a volunteer.
No, the school cannot respond about individuals.
Finally, the school have no authority to tell the police how to respond. The police made the decision to respond in the way they did, and a review of their actions concluded their response was proportional.

The couple did use the school’s complaints procedure.

What was the conduct that met the “harassment” threshold?

What was said that amounted to defamation?

The police would act on the information the school gave them. Did the school tell them they had a couple of parents who were being rude/mean or that they had to parents ho were harassing and being abusive to teachers? Both of those would depend on the interpretation of one or maybe two people at school.

The police review of their actions didn’t conclude it was a proportional response. They said it could have been done with maybe to officers and could have been handled better.

As copied from numerous sources online.

They didn't order them to discuss school matters.

Oh dear. What was the point of the WhatsApp exchange, if that is true? Hint: she did order them not to have such a discussion and it's why she banned them from the school - they ignored her and carried on.

Hint she didn't say school matters couldn't be discussed.

She did order them to stop such discussions (defamatory and harassing communications) as it was causing harm but not that school matters couldn't be discussed. It was how it was being discussed that was the problem not what was being discussed.

The two things are different.

So, you've gone from saying that she didn't order them to stop to admitting that she did. You then claim, without a scrap of evidence, that it passed the legal bar for defamation.

If so, why aren't they up for libel, or not had a cease and desist letter, from a solicitor?

Nope if you have read it properly then you will understand what I have said.

I said she didn't say to stop discussing school matters. Nowhere on that letter did it say you must not speak about school matters. It specifically said stop HOW you are discussing this as it is causing harm. It said it is harassment and defamatory.

Not quite sure you understand the difference between discussing a topic as a mature person and being defamatory and harassing someone because that person is immature.

They have had legal advice that states that it did which is evident.

Why are they not? Costs! Being one. Schools cannot afford glue sticks nevermind the legal costs surrounding taking parents to court who want to harm staff.

They did send a letter asking them to stop or there will be legal consequences!

Well no one knows what you said because it will have been edited.

@whippy1981 please can you provide the link / evidence for this statement "They have had legal advice that states that it did which is evident."