A father arrested alongside his partner for messages in a private WhatsApp group has described the police operation as one "you'd associate with a terror cell, drug den or organised crime."
Maxie Allen told GB News he was arrested while on a Zoom call, with officers detaining his partner Rosalind Levine in front of their three-year-old daughter.
The parents were arrested in January for allegedly harassing their daughter's primary school, Cowley Hill Primary School, through emails and WhatsApp messages.
The couple, who have a disabled and neurodivergent daughter, were detained for eight hours.
"I never set out to be a poster boy for free speech," Allen told GB News. "These are just the things that happened, and I thought it was really a story that shouldn't go untold."
He explained: "It seemed to me like the kind of operation you'd associate with a terror cell or a drug den or organized crime. What we can't understand is why it happened.
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"They had reported concerns. They needed to check them out. Why couldn't they just ask us in for a scheduled formal interview?
"Then we could at least have arranged childcare and not have our neighbours baffled and shell shocked by what had happened and what they had witnessed. There were two police cars and a police van parked on our road."
Explained what happened after his arrest he said: "When we were interviewed by the detective towards the end of the day, who'd had no previous involvement with the case, he did not have any material evidence.
"He had a vague statement from one of the complainants, and that was that. I was imagining was that he would say, did you do this? And did you write that, did you post this?
"There was none of that. He offered not one example. So what happened between the police being contacted and them deciding to send six police officers to our house is a very good question."
"Our WhatsApp group in particular was a private group between about 12 and 15 people on it, with no one connected to the school," he explained further.
"Many people are on a street WhatsApp group and they might well chirp about the bins haven't been emptied or council taxes too high.
"They wouldn't then expect to get a letter from the council saying, I've seen your WhatsApps and then passing it on to the police."
Hertfordshire police confirmed the arrests were made based on harassment and malicious communication allegations but concluded there was insufficient evidence for further action.
A spokesman said: "The arrests were necessary to fully investigate the allegations as is routine in these types of matters.
"Following further investigations, officers deemed that no further action should be taken due to insufficient evidence. A spokesman for Hertfordshire County Council defended the school's headteacher appointment process that sparked the initial complaints.
"Following the departure of the former head teacher, an interim head was appointed for one term to allow time for a proper recruitment process to be carried out," the spokesman said.
"The role was advertised publicly and the recruitment was supported by external professional advisers.
"We are confident that this was a fair, transparent and timely process."
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Maxie Allen told GB News he was arrested while on a Zoom call, with officers detaining his partner Rosalind Levine in front of their three-year-old daughter.
The parents were arrested in January for allegedly harassing their daughter's primary school, Cowley Hill Primary School, through emails and WhatsApp messages.
The couple, who have a disabled and neurodivergent daughter, were detained for eight hours.
"I never set out to be a poster boy for free speech," Allen told GB News. "These are just the things that happened, and I thought it was really a story that shouldn't go untold."
He explained: "It seemed to me like the kind of operation you'd associate with a terror cell or a drug den or organized crime. What we can't understand is why it happened.
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"They had reported concerns. They needed to check them out. Why couldn't they just ask us in for a scheduled formal interview?
"Then we could at least have arranged childcare and not have our neighbours baffled and shell shocked by what had happened and what they had witnessed. There were two police cars and a police van parked on our road."
Explained what happened after his arrest he said: "When we were interviewed by the detective towards the end of the day, who'd had no previous involvement with the case, he did not have any material evidence.
"He had a vague statement from one of the complainants, and that was that. I was imagining was that he would say, did you do this? And did you write that, did you post this?
"There was none of that. He offered not one example. So what happened between the police being contacted and them deciding to send six police officers to our house is a very good question."
"Our WhatsApp group in particular was a private group between about 12 and 15 people on it, with no one connected to the school," he explained further.
"Many people are on a street WhatsApp group and they might well chirp about the bins haven't been emptied or council taxes too high.
"They wouldn't then expect to get a letter from the council saying, I've seen your WhatsApps and then passing it on to the police."
Hertfordshire police confirmed the arrests were made based on harassment and malicious communication allegations but concluded there was insufficient evidence for further action.
A spokesman said: "The arrests were necessary to fully investigate the allegations as is routine in these types of matters.
"Following further investigations, officers deemed that no further action should be taken due to insufficient evidence. A spokesman for Hertfordshire County Council defended the school's headteacher appointment process that sparked the initial complaints.
"Following the departure of the former head teacher, an interim head was appointed for one term to allow time for a proper recruitment process to be carried out," the spokesman said.
"The role was advertised publicly and the recruitment was supported by external professional advisers.
"We are confident that this was a fair, transparent and timely process."
Find Out More...