Woman left traumatised by Terrorism Act arrest after daughter's protest

A woman has said she was left traumatised after being arrested under the Terrorism Act and held incommunicado for five days because her daughter was allegedly involved in action against an Israeli arms firm.

- Haroon Siddique

Emma Kamio, 57, a single mother who runs a homeopathy and pilates business, was led away in handcuffs from her Swansea home in front of her son and neighbours after a Palestine Action protest at an Elbit Systems UK building near Patchway, Bristol, and had three laptops and mobiles seized.

She was so traumatised that she has only recently been able to talk about events. Kamio said she was denied a duty solicitor for the first two days and, when transferred into the custody of counter-terrorism police, was held in a filthy cell, searched repeatedly and the lights were left on all night, describing it as "psychological torture".

The former nurse, who also has a 16-year-old daughter, said: "I disappeared from my family for five days due to the abuse of the Terrorism Act. I'm an ordinary, hard-working, middle-class single parent whose life will never be the same. My story can happen to anyone due to the over-policing and the repression that is happening right now in the UK."