Officers cleared of false arrest (From Daily Echo)

Officers cleared of false arrest

2:22pm Thursday 6th March 2008 in

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TWO Hampshire police officers have been cleared of falsely arresting a man in a parking row.

PC Claire Scannell, 25, went to her brother's home with her fiancé Sgt Abdul Haque, 37, after an alleged attack by a neighbour.

After discovering the alleged attacker Graham Thompson had not been charged they were accused of entering his house, driving him eight miles to a police station and booking him without telling the custody sergeant that the case had already been dealt with by another officer.

The pair first faced trial charged with misconduct in public office at Kingston Crown Court, south west London in May last year.

The jury were discharged after failing to reach verdicts.

The case was tried again at the same court last month but after deliberating for over 15 hours a second jury again failed to come to a verdict.

At a hearing today prosecutor Richard Bendall said the Crown Prosecution Service had decided that it is not in the public interest to proceed with a third jury trial and offered no evidence to the charge.

Judge Charles Welchman ordered that in light of the CPS decision, not guilty verdicts be entered.

PC Scannell's brother Daniel Scannell and his former girlfriend Sarah Williams entered guilty pleas to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice at the start of the second trial.

They will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on March 31.

The jury heard how in August 2006 PC Scannell, along with Sgt Haque, had gone to her brothers home in Leigh Park, Hampshire after she received a phone call from her father to say Daniel, who walks with a stick, had been beaten up and the police were refusing to do anything about it.

Prosecutor Richard Bendall told the jury the altercation amounted to no more than a push by Mr Thompson after they disagreed about parking outside their homes.

Mr Bendall said that Daniel Scannell had in fact said he did not want to press charges and he signed a page in the notebook of the police officer called to the dispute agreeing to that.

PC Scannell and Sgt Haque, in plain clothes, then arrived and arrested Mr Thompson, driving him to Portsmouth Central station instead of the local one at Havant, the jury were told.

Neither PC Scannell or Sgt Haque gave evidence in the witness box at the second trial.