07 Apr Sussex Police provide an apology and financial settlement following unlawful destruction of property and irreplaceable family photos

Our client, AA, a refugee from Afghanistan, has received an apology and a settlement of £4,500 following the unlawful destruction of his property, including the only family photos of his mother and father which were taken before the war.

In October 2014, AA was arrested by police officers from Thames Valley Police. As he was at the time a resident of Brighton, Thames Valley Police officers gave authority to Sussex Police to search AA’s flat. Various electrical items including his camera and memory cards were seized.

In January 2015 AA received a notice of no further action from Thames Valley Police. He subsequently tried to obtain his property from Sussex Police over the next 16 months. In April 2016 AA was told his property had been destroyed. The memory cards contained the only copies AA had of his family photos, which he obtained after years of contact with the Red Cross, who eventually were able to reunite him with a cousin who lived in the UK and provided the photos to him.

Sussex Police have now settled our client’s claim and offered him an apology.

AA was represented by a member of our police misconduct team at Matthew Gold & Company. If you think you may have a potential claim against the police, please feel free to contact us on 020 8445 9268 or at london@matthewgold.co.uk.