unlawful attempt to enter a peaceful dwelling

[shoshenden]

Yes this was my thought, unfortunately I did not record the telephone conversation, he initially claimed to be calling to confirm address and some details of the incident. He obviously wanted to 'suss' me out and see how far I'm willing to take it. I will in future endeavour to record all telephone conversations, I may invoice them for my time too ;-)

[shoshenden]

Further update, telephone call received (unable to record) from female member of the complaint decision. Although stating she is neutral, she went on to offer a reason(excuse) why the officers may have entered my property without a warrant, for instance, if they are looking for a suspected criminal thought to be at that address. She quickly followed that up with, I don't know if that's the case here. She asked if I wanted to make a statement against the officer for criminal assault or undue force, I went on to explain that as they unlawfully entered and used force against me to gain access, that I was the injured party and that made it a crime against common come law. She tried to get me to agree to let a male officer come to my home to take a statement. I went on to explain that after I was besieged by numerous armed male officers against my will last wed, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that arrangement, and that I would prefer a female member of the team. She got quite shirty on that and started going on about limited resources and no sufficiently trained female members of staff!! I stood my ground and said I have all the time in the world and will wait until a suitably qualified female staff member becomes available. Now, my question is, do I give this statement at our home or do I go to the police station as I suggested to her? I'll obviously take someone as a witness and to take notes etc. What do you think people?

[Prajna]

You can even arrange to do it at a cafe, Shoshenden. And do take a witness. There is no reason why you should not record also, in fact I would highly recommend it. You can give your complaint and it should be taken as a criminal complaint if you feel you have been assaulted (remember that even threats are assault). Don't accept local resolution.

Namaste.

[shoshenden]

Thank you so much for all your input, seriously you don't know how much it means to have a sounding board ;-)

[Prajna]

You're welcome, Shoshenden. You'll probably also find it worthwhile to find some other activists in your area to bounce off and learn from too. I'm in Liverpool atm, what sort of area are you based in?

[shoshenden]

That would be great, most of my family and friends think I've lost the plot! I'm in Burton on Trent which is in Staffordshire, I also work in Derby which is only 20m away.

[shoshenden]

Just to keep you posted on further developments, I'm making a formal statement against the officers involved on 12th Feb, there has however been a further development. While collecting my children from school yesterday Friday 25/01/2013 I was standing on the playground with my youngest daughter in her buggy. I was approached by the daughter of our local elected councillor, closely followed by her mother, and wife of said elected official. (the daughter is facinated with my daughter and was trying to feed her hooa hoops) while conducting a conversation with the child about eating hoola hoops off your fingers, an important skill i thought i ought to pass on :) Meanwhile her mother, standing directly next to me but addressing at least two other mums (witnesses) in rather a loud voice, she starts with
" My Richard (Councillor Richard Grovesnor) was in the incident room at the police station the morning of their operation 'nemesis' (failed publicity stunt), We knew weeks before it was going to happen, we just didnt know when, they even showed him photographs of all the suspects so WE knew who was getting done" She went on to pontificate "it was all drugs that they found, all drug related"
Now I myself am bound by the data protection act 1998 as I'm a therapist and as far as i'm concerned he is guilty of breaking confidentiality, which she has then spread around like idle gossip, now her intention was definately to belittle me, as my property was one of the properties unlawfully searched that very morning, which has since lead to me submitting a formal complaint due to this breach of duty, which is why I think she targeted me. The powers that be are only too aware that they have dropped a bollock and this was her very crude way of trying to intimidate me. I just bit my tongue and once home looked into the procedure for making a formal complaint against an elected official! Now my question is this, do I bring these megalomaniacs to account for their actions, I mean I may aswel, the police are getting it both barrels, it would seem I'm on a roll, or do I err on the side of caution? Does anyone agree with me that this is a breach of his official duties, and indeed, have the police breached their duties by showing him photographs of suspects? I can see why he would be in the incident room, just about, but weeks of prior warning and disclosing data protected information??? The plot thickens.....

[shoshenden]

p.s
His conduct has recently been called into question over a conflict of interest while performing his duties as a councillor. He is vigerously backing an application from a private property developers to build a new housing estate, when he has been found to have links to one of the building firms involved in the application. There has been widespread local opposition to the application and to his involvement.

[shoshenden]

My thoughts are to complete the relevant complaint form and send it recorded delivery first thing Monday morning to the monitoring officer at the standards committee, any advancement on that?

[Prajna]

Certainly, Shoshenden, fire it all off and hold them all to account. Certainly such things should not be spread as even idle gossip. When it is done in order to belittle you then there is also an aspect of malice, an aggravating feature. The councillor has a duty of confidentiality and has failed in that duty. The wife has slandered you (though the onus of proof is on you rather than her, sadly).

Namaste