'Real Happy Valley' ex-cop wins payout after she is arrested for social media post

A FORMER police officer has won a payout from a force that arrested her on suspicion of “stalking and harassment” over a series of social media posts about alleged “misogynistic” colleagues.

- By Jon Austin

FORCE FOR GOOD?: Author Alice Vinten as officer. Above, with book and, right, Sarah Lancashire

Alice Vinten claims she was kept in a cell for 14 hours and that she was assaulted after her arrest last year, during which her electronic devices were also seized.

The author, 43, revealed she has reached an out-of-court settlement — for an undisclosed sum - with Essex Police after suing it for wrongful arrest and battery.

She served in the Met for a decade but left in 2015 after becoming “disheartened” with policing and went on to highlight alleged misogynistic behaviour within forces.

Ms Vinten wrote On the Line, published in 2018, about her 10 years in the police.