Police assault victim starts civil action
Wednesday 29th July 2009, 1:00PM BST.
A VICTIM of assault at the hands of a policeman is suing the States for damages.
Grandmother Rosemarie Holt is bringing the action against the Home Department after she was assaulted by PC Stuart Allan, who handcuffed and placed her in the back of a police van after he wrongly suspected her of drink-driving.
PC Allan (pictured) has recently been reinstated to the force after successfully appealing a decision by Guernsey Police to ask him to resign.
Mrs Holt said yesterday that the action was in its early stages but that she was seeking damages for both mental trauma and physical injury allegedly caused by the assault. ‘I did not want it to come to this,’ the 65-year-old said. ‘I just wanted him out.’
Throughout her ordeal, Mrs Holt has been supported by Housing minister Dave Jones, who has been heavily critical of its handling. He put her in touch with Advocate Andrew Ayres.
Deputy Jones yesterday attacked the Home Department political decision to allow PC Allan’s return to the force.
He said Mrs Holt had come to him for advice on the possibility of starting civil proceedings.
‘She had been told by several people that she should seek punitive damages for her mental health and physical damage as a result of the assault,’ he said. ‘I told her she would need legal aid, so I took her to the advocate.’
Home announced yesterday that, after taking advice from the Law Officers, it was standing by the decision made by a lay panel to reinstate PC Allan.
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Welcome to America…. Guernsey
The land where we can sue for anything and everything.
Coffee too hot….. sue them.
Chair at work is uncomfortable….. sue them.
Fired for gross misconduct….. sue them.
Somebody hit you because you were mugging them…. sue them.
This is the tip of the iceberg, I have no doubt the “assaulted” gran will make money from this, not as much as the lawyers though.
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Funny that, no mention of suing before, for goodness sake get on with your life, and next time pull over and do as you are asked instead being uncooperative.
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I do feel sorry for this woman and I don’t think she should have been treated like a common criminal. I don’t like the idea of PC Stuart Allan patrolling our streets again. However we do not know all the sides to this unfortunate story and maybe this PC is innocent! What it does do is show up the Guernsey Police Force in a bad light again in my opinion. One does wonder what sort of people they recruit. They should treat the public with respect and win back our confidence in them. Ah but this is little old Guernsey!!
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Can someone please explain why she is suing the states and not the officer? Well apart from the money side
Whos paying for advocate??
We all know who paying for any damges!
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Tonkie
Good points.
I wonder why the Press on line haven’t mentioned the facts of the original case and the circumstances that led to it.
As I recall there were technical omissions that if taken place would have cleared the officer. Perhaps someone can clarify the issue?
Perhaps sensational headlines sell copies?
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I hear Mrs Holt is now too scared to drive – thank goodness for that, the roads will now be safer without this highly-strung woman on it.
If she had simply pulled over when the officer asked her, and not resisted arrest, maybe none of this would have happened.
Get over it, love, and get a life.
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What kind of example is Mrs Holt setting for her Grandchildren?
Perhaps Mrs Holt will donate any damages she receives to charity and perhaps the Advocate will also donate his fee to charity as well. And perhaps Mrs Holt will make a public statement to this effect in the coming days.
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It might help for people to read the original press report that reminds us of a more accurate version of events than those being referred to now by Guernsey Press and the woman threatening to Sue. It clearly shows that PC Allen is not a bad man:
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/09/08/pc-handcuffs-woman-he-has-not-arrested-%e2%80%93-thats-assault/
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Can someone explain how doing his job and handcuffing a person/suspect and putting them in the police van is considered assault? or am I missing something?
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Without knowing the facts of the case, I can’t see any policeman cuffing anyone without having some reason to believe that person is breaking some law. I understand drunkenness was the likely reason in this case, and I know that some people act in a manner that suggests drunkenness even when no alcohol has been consumed. So, until the true facts have been presented then I reckon that Policeman is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
In any case, where is the assault in being handcuffed by a minion of the law? The police are the only protection for the normal decent people and it is unGuernseylike to try and bring them down.
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Brian
He WAS presumed innocent, but then after HEARING ALL THE TRUE FACTS the Magistrate’s Court found him guilty. Then the Royal Court upheld the conviction on appeal. Then an independent police force recommended he leave the force. The Guernsey Chief Officer agreed with this view.
Then politicians allowed him to keep his job. So much for the distinction between politicians and the judiciary!!
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Phil – for once, and this is quite rare, I agree with you!
The Man – you really do believe the PC’s actions were correct don’t you?
As I have stated elsewhere, he is, and was found guilty.
PC Allan is a disgrace to the uniform and should have received a custodial sentence.
‘She crossed a white line’ it states in his original submission. Really – since when has this been an offence??
If he put his blue lights on at the brewery and she saw them at the bottom of the Val Des Terres, I would have thought it prudent for her not to stop there anyway given as it is a clearway – knowing his lack of Policing skills he would have written her a ticket for parking in a clearway. After he had beaten her senseless with his MX Baton and CS Gassed her of course – given she was such a great threat.
Good luck with your claim Mrs Holt.
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PC Allan has been found guilty and Mrs Holt has every right to sue his employer for his actions.
Brian,
‘It is UnGuernseylike to try and bring them down’
Are you suggesting the police are above the law and don’t need to face the same consequences as the rest of us when they break it?
It is this kind of attitude that undermines the decent police officers in the force and allows the small minority to abuse their position.
Good luck Mrs Holt
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It is astonishing that so many people who were not present at the original incident and are very unlikely to have attended and listened to all the evidence given in court are able to speak with such authority on the guilt or otherwise of this policeman.
The courts and the independent enquiry did hear and consider this evidence and reached the conclusion that he was culpable. I would guess that all the adjudicators would have been leaning over backwards to find a way out for an officer of the law. They couldn’t find that way out – they found what he did was wrong and a criminal offence.
As I’ve said elswhere, it is sad for this man who may never have done anything wrong apart from this but we can’t have a situation where the upholders of the law are themselves convicted criminals.
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Darren – “She crossed a white line” and “since when has this been an offence?”
Do you drive? Do you know what white lines are for? Yet you feel qualified to comment on any other offence related issue?
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I think we need a little perspective here…
Mrs Holt got her justice in the form of a guilty verdict (in more than one court), and we shouldn’t forget that the assault was actually THE ARREST. This strikes me as a training issue rather than the officer’s intent to harm Mrs HOLT. After all there is no suggestion that he intended to harm her, just to arrest her for suspected drink driving.
What would be the alternative? Allow her to continue on her way; give her the benefit of the doubt by not arresteing her or investigating the matter at all!
And finally, PC ALLEN could have lied about the circumstances, could have made up another story about what he saw, could have denied a whole host of facts in order to dodge this whole issue (indeed, he probably now wishes he did). But in fact, it seems PC ALLEN was honest enough to admit the facts and to take the consequences, whatever they may be.
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Darren
Time to dust off the Highway Code mate
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