In September 2022 a woman with autism was arrested, forcibly restrained and detained for 24 hours by Avon and Somerset police officers. She had been the victim of hate crime and harassment, including spurious crime reports, by an individual known to police. The allegation against her was then dropped.
No account was taken of the woman’s disability in detention, and when she became highly distressed in a cell she was told by officers to “stop sulking”. They did not check on her regularly and did not respond to her calls for help. At one point, she lost consciousness. She was eventually taken to hospital.
Avon & Somerset police have now admitted unlawful entry and the use of unlawful force, plus a failure to make reasonable adjustments for disability, and have paid the woman a significant sum in damages and apologised to her for what happened.
Read the press release here.
Molly Cox of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors acted for the woman.
