A serving Tayside policewoman is suing Scotland’s Chief Constable for £50,000 damages after she was arrested in a case involving a McFlurry ice cream.
Gwen Louden claims she was ill for months after being arrested over an allegation of attempting to pervert the course of justice during her handling of a 2010 case when she was a beat officer for Monifieth and the Sidlaws on the Angus and Dundee boundary.
She was arrested by fellow officers in what Forfar Sheriff Court heard on Friday was a “humiliating” experience which left Ms Louden anxious, unable to sleep and lacking in pride.
A psychiatrist said the episode had left her the likely victim of an adjustment disorder and Ms Louden claims she was forced to take five months’ stress and anxiety leave, before being
redeployed in a different role.
No action was taken by the procurator fiscal against Ms Louden and, in a civil case which reached the conclusion of evidence at the Forfar court, she is pursuing the five-figure action against Scotland’s top policeman, Sir Stephen House.
The case revolves around her handling of an assault allegation which the court heard the WPC had later described as “nonsense over the flicking of a McFlurry”.
Concerns were raised about the way she dealt with the matter in relation to an interview with one of the parties involved and some days after the initial alleged incident she was contacted on her day off by an Inspector and attended voluntarily for interview at Forfar police office.
Ms Louden, 53, of Dundee was then questioned by an Inspector and a Detective Sergeant, who is the partner of the pursuer’s ex-husband_before being arrested and taken to Arbroath police office where she was fingerprinted and had a DNA test and photograph taken.
The pursuer states Ms Louden’s arrest was without warrant and not justified in the circumstances and say their client was “devastated and humiliated” by the experience.
Yesterday in evidence, former Tayside Detective Inspector Alistair Waghorn, one of those who interviewed Ms Louden, agreed with the pursuer’s advocate Ewen Campbell that the process would have been “humiliating.”
“We did as much as we could to mitigate that,” he said, adding that the charge room at the police station was closed to others, a minimum of staff were involved, Ms Louden was not placed in a cell after her arrest and she was then driven back to Forfar to collect her car.
He said he had been satisfied there was a “sufficiency of evidence” to warrant the pursuer’s arrest, but agreed with Mr Campbell that Ms Louden could have been either charged or reported to the Procurator Fiscal without being arrested.
Mr Waghorn said he had considered it an “aggravated” matter.
“It was an offence against the Crown and it was done by a police officer on duty in uniform,” he added.
Summing-up, Mr Campbell said: “My main proposition is very simply that the arrest was wrongful and unlawful and as such damages should be awarded.”
Solicitor Jim Reid, for the defender said: “My basic contention is that the arrest was justified given the seriousness of the offence, in that we have an allegation of an attempt to pervert the course of justice by a police officer on duty.”
Sheriff Kevin Veal will issue a written judgment at a later date.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “This is an ongoing court case and we cannot say anything further at this stage.”