Overview
- Six officers arrested Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen at their Borehamwood home on January 29 in front of their child, and they were held for about 11 hours on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property.
- The dispute stemmed from critical messages in a parents’ WhatsApp group and multiple emails to Cowley Hill Primary School, which said it sought police advice over the volume of correspondence.
- After a five-week investigation earlier this year, Hertfordshire Constabulary took no further action, later acknowledging the arrests were unlawful because the statutory necessity test for arrest was not satisfied.
- The force maintains the underlying investigation was justified and says there are no misconduct findings against any officer, describing the £10,000 paid to each parent as above what case law requires to conclude the matter.
- The couple say the settlement vindicates them, and the case has intensified scrutiny of police involvement in social‑media disputes and parental complaints to schools.