I'm not on X, and due to my work, never likely to be.
This is the email that I received today.
Caroline Farrow, CitizenGO
This is going to be quite a long email - I’m writing to tell you about some important - and promising- updates regarding the legal proceedings I’ve been going through in recent months.
But I wanted to start by saying THANK YOU and express my gratitude for your generous support over what has been a harrowing year for me, my husband and children. We’ve really been through the wringer over the past few years and I couldn’t have done it without your words of encouragement, your prayers and of course, your kind donations.
Knowing that my CitizenGO family has my back has meant the world to me.
As you will remember, my latest nightmare began 13 months ago in October, 2022.
I was cooking dinner for my family when two police officers came to my door, barged in without a warrant and proceeded to confiscate mine and my family’s electronic devices, including the Ipad belonging to my autistic 10 year-old, on suspicion of malicious communications and harassment, before dragging me off to spend the rest of the evening in a police cell.
The ordeal did not end there - six months later, four police officers came to my door to arrest me for a second time, (this time I was in the shower), because I had not attended an interview that was due to begin thirty minutes previously.
I had already informed the police that I would not be able to attend due to needing to drop my daughter off at a support group for autistic children, and asked them to reschedule, but to no avail. I came home, jumped in the shower and bang, bang, bang, there they were, rattling my door frame to gain entry, while I was literally only clad in a towel. Fortunately, they did allow me 10 minutes to get dressed before carting me off to jail for a second time.
Six weeks later I was given two days' notice that I needed to attend court as the police were applying for a draconian ‘stalking protection order’ against me. If the court had seen fit to grant this order I would have been assigned an ‘offender manager’ despite not actually being charged, let alone found guilty of a crime, and effectively banned from using the internet and any electronic devices.
The police were demanding that every single electronic device belonging to every member of my family was logged and installed with monitoring software and that I would need to seek permission before sending any electronic messages. I would not be allowed to text my husband, my parents, or my adolescent children, without first seeking express consent. Furthermore, the police wanted me to hand over the passwords to my email and social media accounts and the ability to enter my home without any warning between the hours of 8am and 8pm to monitor whether or not I was complying with the order.
This would have meant that the police could have come into my house at any time they chose and demanded to see my electronic devices and if I did not comply, or they believed that I had been communicating without permission, I would have been immediately arrested and thrown into prison.
As you can imagine, it was terrifying. They wanted to treat me as though I was a paedophile or terrorist, simply because I was the latest victim of a notoriously litigious transgender male.
This is where you came in.
Thanks to your generosity, CitizenGO was able to pay for some expert lawyers who were able to unravel and disprove the malicious and manufactured allegations.
Firstly, the stalking protection order application was discontinued.
Then, a few weeks ago, I received a notification that Surrey Police had referred my case to the Crown Prosecution Service who have determined that I will not face any criminal charges, because there is no evidence to support the allegations against me.
This is obviously fabulous news and there are not enough words to express my relief. I cannot tell you how stressful it has been, having these malicious allegations and the threat of prosecution hanging over my head for the past year.
This categorically would not have happened, if CitizenGO hadn’t been able to secure me the best criminal representation.
However, it doesn’t end there.
I am fighting my third civil lawsuit in four years, brought by this same individual over alleged ‘misuse of private information’ for defending myself against his repeated attempts to de-platform me in the media.
The case will likely be heard sometime in 2024.
I also intend to take legal action against Surrey Police.
Surrey Police need to repay the defence costs against the Stalking Protection Order. It is not simply that their application failed; their own legal team advised them that this should never have been brought and would be rejected by a court.
On the day of the hearing, Surrey Police’s own lawyers looked at my defence and realised that the application could go no further and would not be granted. Their negligence and lack of proper investigation meant that I had to pay lawyers to mount an unnecessary defence. Surrey Police has a legal obligation to repay my costs.
I also intend to pursue Surrey Police for wrongful arrest and the harm and distress they have caused to my entire family. I was arrested in front of my children; two of whom have complex autism.
As a result of having had her Ipad seized, my daughter began to hide her treasured belongings under the bed or in the cupboard, in case the police returned to take more of her things. My young son also needed comfort and reassurance from his teachers, having seen his mother dragged off by police officers. All of my children have been living in fear of another knock at the door and are traumatised by police officers.
All because I misgendered someone on the internet.
This is not simply about compensation for the harm suffered, although I admit it would be nice to take the children on holiday, but because I want to ensure that nobody else has to go through a similar ordeal.
This situation happened because Surrey Police have been indoctrinated with LGBT ideology and were immediately biased against me from the start. They adopted a partisan approach and their investigation consisted of believing the other party, on account of their transgender status as opposed to considering my side of the story. The police were prepared to walk all over my rights enshrined in articles 8,9 and 10 of the Human Rights Act, because they claimed, I was at risk of committing ‘serious crime’.
When the evidence was independently examined, both in the case of their abandoned stalking protection order, and for the potential offence of ‘Malicious Communications’ it was abundantly clear that I had not committed any criminal offence.
Surrey Police need to be held to account and hit in the pocket, so that they learn that they must stop policing mothers on the internet and instead start policing the streets.
Nonetheless, it is an incredible relief following the stress of the past year, to learn that I will not be facing charges and you played an enormous part in this, whether through your generous donations, or your words of encouragement and support.
With gratitude,
Caroline Farrow and the entire CitizenGO Team