More stupidity from thuggish British police

And they are denying it and apologizing for it at the same time!

Julie Maynard was on her way to Calais with 12-year-old Joshua when she was stopped and questioned at the Channel crossing about her relationship with her son. When she insisted that he was her child, she was questioned for several hours and told: "It is obvious he has nothing to do with you". Miss Maynard, a legal advocate from Ware in Hertfordshire, was taken to a separate detention room - leaving her son in distress - before eventually being released.

She described the episode as an "unpleasant and frightening experience" and has now received compensation and an apology from Kent Police for their "lack of tact". The female detective constable handling the case was transferred to other duties.

The incident happened in Folkestone, Kent, on February 20 this year after Miss Maynard, Joshua - who is autistic and suffers from cerebral palsy - and her husband Leslie Coombs went to France for the day. On the way in the Channel Tunnel, they were stopped by the plain clothes police officer from the Channel Tunnel Policing Unit, who did not identify herself, before requesting their passports and asking about Joshua. Miss Maynard said: "My son is mixed race and the officer then told us, 'I believe you are child trafficking'."

When she asked if she would be asked the same question if her son was white, she claimed that the officer replied: "Are you accusing me of being a racist?" The family was then surrounded by 10 police officers, detained under the Terrorism Act and told to get out of their car. Miss Maynard was taken to a detention room and warned that police could hold them for up to nine hours under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act, but they were released after two.

She said: "More and more people are being stopped under the Terrorism Act. There's absolutely nothing in the act to stop individual officers abusing their powers. "They have a difficult job to do in a difficult climate, but their approach needs to be reasonable and not presumptive that every person is somehow guilty of a possible terrorism or criminal offence."

Kent Police paid a "substantial sum" of money to the welfare fund at Joshua's school, reimbursed the Channel crossing fare and offered Joshua a visit to its marine launch. Inspector Helen Shaw, from Kent Police's Frontier Operations, said: "The officer's manner (was) insensitive, lacking in tact and her conduct overall lacked the professionalism I expect."

Kent Police denied that they had separated Miss Maynard from her son and husband or that they had detained her under the Terrorism Act. A spokesman said: "Miss Maynard was asked to go to an office voluntarily with the officer to reassure her about why the checks were being done, before spending some time with her registering her complaint, along with a uniformed police sergeant. "At no point were the couple or the boy detained under the Terrorism Act."

The spokesman said the police officer involved had moved to other duties but not because of this incident. "Our border officers have a duty to make rigorous checks at our ports. Police routinely stop vehicles and often have to make a quick assessment of the circumstances. "Officers' interceptions do result in serious organised crime being exposed. We have also prevented children from being removed from the UK illegally."

Original report here




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)