Police unlawfully handcuffed pupil at school
GoogleA student who was handcuffed at school because an officer believed he had indecent images of another pupil on his phone was detained unlawfully, a judge has ruled.
Police arrested Corey Clarke, then aged 16, in 2018 at Southmoor Academy in Sunderland. He was held for seven hours before being released after staff were told he was blackmailing a female pupil.
Clarke, now aged 23, took his claim against police to court but, in 2024, Judge William Hanbury concluded the arrest had been necessary and lawful.
However, that ruling was overturned at the High Court on Friday with judge Mr Justice Kimblin ruling it was "neither unavoidable nor the last resort to arrest the appellant".
Kimblin said: "The school and other agencies seem to me to have reacted calmly and sensitively and in a supportive way.
"However, I have concluded, with some considerable regret, that the officer went further than was reasonable in respect of a child at his place of education."
The judge said the officer later recorded that he believed the arrest was necessary "to protect a young, vulnerable person and prevent loss of evidence".
However, he added: "The appellant did not have his phone with him.
"It was unnecessary to arrest him at school to obtain a phone which he did not have.
"For the same reason, children were not at risk because the appellant had been withdrawn from his class and did not have his phone."
Kimblin concluded: "I have found that the arrest was unlawful and it follows that the handcuffing and detention were also unlawful."
