Northumbria Police:
Arrogant, High-Handed and Reckless
Late at night on October 1st 2016, two Northumbria Police officers went to the home of my elderly father, James Dougherty. Despite his protests that he needed to stay with my mother, who was dying of cancer, they arrested him. He was taken to Southwick Police Station and locked in a cell, then questioned until almost 3AM.
Northumbria Police wanted to investigate the possibility that the vaguely described red car at an incident alleged to have taken place on Tuesday 27th September might be my father’s. They did nothing about this on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, and have never explained to us why they felt it necessary to arrest an old man in the middle of the night without any evidence of any offence.
We have made two formal complaints and an attempt at local resolution. We have had three personal visits from the Area Force Commander. I have written to my MP and the Home Office. And yet Northumbria Police will not explain the decision process that led to taking an old man away from his terminally ill wife.
It is my belief that this is because there was no good reason. Northumbria Police chose when and how to deal with this matter, and handled it in a way that was convenient for them without regard for the welfare of my family.
What follows is, to the best of my knowledge, a true and accurate account of my family’s mistreatment at the hands of Northumbria Police and their subsequent efforts to avoid the consequences of these actions. I have had to rely in places on the best information I can obtain from the police, who seem to have a talent for obfuscation and talking around a subject without giving out any useful information. In other areas I am working from police and other documents, my own personal observations and accounts related to me by close family members whose integrity I do not doubt.
In places the police version of events is different to ours, but I am convinced that ours is correct. The police seem to have taken the stance that this matter is satisfactorily resolved and that we have received adequate answers to our questions. This is not the case. The victim of their actions is still asking why it all happened, and some questions we have been asking since October 2016 have never been addressed.
Among them are these:
Why would an organisation that claims to be Proud to Protect carry out a routine and non-urgent investigation by arresting a vulnerable old man late at night?
Are Northumbria Police proud of how they handled this matter?
Are their officers happy for their own relatives to be treated this way?
It is with no little regret that I make this matter public. I used to respect and admire the police, and for a long period I clung to the hope that if only I could make them see just how much harm had been done then we would finally get the explanation and apology promised by the Area Force Commander in December 2016. It is obvious now that this is never going to happen.
Policing in this country is based on the principle of public consent.
We most certainly did not consent to this.
Northumbria Police wanted to investigate the possibility that the vaguely described red car at an incident alleged to have taken place on Tuesday 27th September might be my father’s. They did nothing about this on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, and have never explained to us why they felt it necessary to arrest an old man in the middle of the night without any evidence of any offence.
We have made two formal complaints and an attempt at local resolution. We have had three personal visits from the Area Force Commander. I have written to my MP and the Home Office. And yet Northumbria Police will not explain the decision process that led to taking an old man away from his terminally ill wife.
It is my belief that this is because there was no good reason. Northumbria Police chose when and how to deal with this matter, and handled it in a way that was convenient for them without regard for the welfare of my family.
What follows is, to the best of my knowledge, a true and accurate account of my family’s mistreatment at the hands of Northumbria Police and their subsequent efforts to avoid the consequences of these actions. I have had to rely in places on the best information I can obtain from the police, who seem to have a talent for obfuscation and talking around a subject without giving out any useful information. In other areas I am working from police and other documents, my own personal observations and accounts related to me by close family members whose integrity I do not doubt.
In places the police version of events is different to ours, but I am convinced that ours is correct. The police seem to have taken the stance that this matter is satisfactorily resolved and that we have received adequate answers to our questions. This is not the case. The victim of their actions is still asking why it all happened, and some questions we have been asking since October 2016 have never been addressed.
Among them are these:
Why would an organisation that claims to be Proud to Protect carry out a routine and non-urgent investigation by arresting a vulnerable old man late at night?
Are Northumbria Police proud of how they handled this matter?
Are their officers happy for their own relatives to be treated this way?
It is with no little regret that I make this matter public. I used to respect and admire the police, and for a long period I clung to the hope that if only I could make them see just how much harm had been done then we would finally get the explanation and apology promised by the Area Force Commander in December 2016. It is obvious now that this is never going to happen.
Policing in this country is based on the principle of public consent.
We most certainly did not consent to this.
