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?

So asking for why the parents haven't gone to the police for being falsely accused is drivel?

Yes

Because you know there has to be a reason why they haven't and you are not prepared for people to query why?

Because your attempts at discussion on this subject are circular, frustrating and nonsensical

Because you like to deflect and cannot handle anyone questioning something!

Old thread now, but quite a big update. The police have paid compensation of £20,000.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: "There has clearly been a fundamental breakdown in relationships between a school and parents that shouldn't have become a police matter."

So even the Police think they were unreasonable.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz1qy30v5o

The Police have paid out to make it go away, rather than have a proper investigation. They really ought to sue the school, too.

What for? The school didn't arrest them and don't have control over who the police arrest?

Yeah as angry as I am with the school, the police should have told them to shut up and go away.

They lied and lied and lied and made a false complaint to the Police. Do keep up.

What the hell is going on with public services?
The NHS and Social services have the same level of arrogance. I know several of my patients have been banned from their GP for "rudeness". These are complex/ anxious patients who were probably costing the practice quite a bit. GP gets fed up of dealing with them and issues a ban.

I also know someone else who's child developed a stutter, and was then referred to social services by a school speech therapist who "thought it might be sexual abuse".

As far as I can tell, the police fucked up by arresting two people who didn't meet the threshold for arrest.

That doesn't mean that the school lied about their behaviour, just that it didn't meet the threshold of criminality.

The parents admit bombarding the school with emails and posting 'spicy' messages about staff on social media,

Yes, but robust criticism and argumentativeness is not a police matter, and never should be.

Then that is on the police to inform the school and not for the police to then go and arrest the people then say 'whoops, we shouldn't have done that'. It is not the school's fault that the police fucked up and don't know their jobs.

The arrest evidently went too far, but they don’t come out of it well and will not have learned any lessons, which is a shame.

I expect the school were trying to off roll their daughter, given that she is disabled. It seems shocking and unbelievable, but having been on the receiving end of this behavior from a school I know it goes on.

I think the opposite, I think the couple have come out well given the admission from the police and the crime commissioner.

While I agree that the school didn't make the arrest, they were the ones running to the police telling tells, and thus recruited the power of the state in an attempt to make their inconvenience go away. The police should have told them to go away and deal with their problems properly, as they should as a taxpayer funded institution, but the school were vindictive and calculating.

In fact, I can picture the governors and (interim!) headteacher sat around plotting what to, when one pipes up and says "I know, we'll get them under the malicious communications act!" Unfortunately, the police decided to park all those burglaries and muggings, and oblige the scheming so and so's when they should have been told to stick it up their jumper.

Or maybe the couple were a massive pain in the arse, bombarding the school with emails, roping in a councillor mate to also email the school because of their 'issues' with the appointment of a headteacher, they had to be banned from the school site because they were being a nuisance and then they moaned about it on WhatsApp to all their mates. Then the school, in an attempt to actually be allowed to get on with their jobs without having to deal with all that shit every day asked the police 'is there anything that can be done about this?'.

You see, it's entirely possible to picture this scenario entirely differently.

Yes, that is a fair point. Without being in the room and hearing the conversations, we'll never know.

The police should never have gone in with the 'arrest and detain now, ask questions later' approach for a simple pain in the arse. Even the most pro-school advocate here would surely think a police discussion with the couple about the potential for straying into harassment territory would have been more than sufficient, although still overreach in my book.

They sent 6 police officers to arrest a parent in front of their toddler, for what's app messages. And 5 armed police to arrest Graham Linehan as he stepped off a plane, for tweets. A woman was arrested for taking a photo of a sticker, another for having a poster on her door. But if you have your bike nicked from the station carpark, they won't even bother looking at the CCTV. The police and their acting as a personal security service for people with hurty feelings needs seriously taking in hand.

100% agree. Truly ridiculous behaviour.

Yes, the police definitely haven't covered themselves in glory recently.

Did the other stupid arrests also receive compensation?

It's entirely possible to see it from another point of view if you get really drunk, put a bag over your head and twirl round a dozen times, before asking a friend to hire you on thd head with a rubber mallet. Whilst pretending that the Police didn't say mo case to answer and give them 20 grand to bugger off.

They admitted everything in my post.

I assume because middle class families are usually quite meek with both schools and police and generally expect to have easy relationships with the school and none at all with the police.