WhatsApp complaint about school gets parents arrested

A couple have criticised police after they were arrested for making complaints about their daughter’s primary school.

- TARA COBHAM

Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine say they were detained by six Hertfordshire police officers in front of their young daughter on 29 January, after they were arrested on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications, and causing a nuisance on school property.

They told The Times they were fingerprinted and searched before being left in a police cell for eight hours. No further action was taken following a five-week investigation.

The couple said the arrest came after their nine-year-old daughter Sascha’s school, Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, raised objections over them sending multiple emails and raising criticisms on a parents’ WhatsApp group.

They said they had previously been blocked from entering the school after taking issue with the process for appointing a head teacher and “casting aspersions” on the chair of governors. They said this meant they were not allowed to attend Sascha’s parents’ evening or her Christmas performance. They said the ban also meant they couldn’t provide crucial medical information to teachers, relating to their child, who is disabled, neurodivergent, and has epilepsy.

Mr Allen, who is a producer at