£15,000.00 compensation after police unlawful entry to house

Levenes have settled the claim of the Claimant who suffered PTSD, anxiety and depression following the unlawful entry to her house by the police.

On New Year’s Eve, the Claimant, a Polish woman in her 50s was home alone waiting for her partner to return from work and was looking forward to seeing the New Year with her husband and daughters. Suddenly, there was banging at the door. She was not expecting any callers and the banging at the door was not a polite knock that you would expect from a friendly visitor. She could see 2 men through the window. Terrified of what was about to happen she froze. Moments later, the door was broken down and 2 men entered her house from the front and a 3rd man from the back.

The men who entered the house were police officers. They were acting on false information and claimed that they believed that the house was being used to grow cannabis. Our client was a respectable woman with no criminal involvement and very soon, the police officers realised their mistake.

However, not only had they made a mistake about there being cannabis grown at the house, but they also entered unlawfully. They did not have the power to enter. They did not have a warrant. They were in plain clothes and the Claimant could not tell that they were police officers and they failed to identify themselves.

Psychiatric injuries- PTSD

Although the police apologised for their mistake and repaired the broken door, they refused to compensate the Claimant for her psychiatric injuries.

The Claimant was of a generation from Poland who feared the police due to Poland’s past history before democracy and the rule of law came to the country and even though the incident was over in minutes, she developed a psychiatric injury.

She was too afraid to leave the house for 2 months and for 3 months she was off work. She was terrified of being left in the house alone. Her partner did all that he could to support her, but he had to go work and so her daughters would sit with her to keep her calm.

The police claimed that it was not foreseeable that psychiatric injury could be suffered.

Levenes instructed a highly respected psychiatrist who said that not only was psychiatric injury foreseeable, but it was very likely.

After the issue of proceedings, the police offered £1,000.00 which was simply a nominal offer for the unlawful entry and wanted the Claimant to see their psychiatrist.

Levenes argued that they were prolonging the Claimant’s recovery from her injuries by refusing to accept her case and by putting her through the ordeal of reliving her experience again with their psychiatrist.

After some further negotiations, a good sense prevailed, and a settlement of the claim was agreed for £15,000.00 without the Claimant having to see the police’s psychiatrist or go to court.

The settlement will enable her to get psychological therapy with a Polish speaking psychologist.

The Claimant was represented by Tim Beasley, Partner and Ewa Kosim, paralegal.

When her case was concluded she stated “I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Levenes Solicitors for professionally handling my case. In particular, I want to express my immense gratitude to Ms. Ewa Kosim for her competence, understanding, empathy, and professionalism. My case was not an easy one, and Ms. Ewa truly rose to the challenge. We achieved compensation that satisfied me 100%. I wholeheartedly recommend Levenes and send greetings to the entire team”.

Compensation claims

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