Police will pay £34,000 in compensation to an IT director thrown in a cell for a night over a blog post.
Samuel Smith took Hertfordshire Police to the High Court after a dozen officers arrived at his home, carried out an unlawful search and wrongfully detained him.
Mr Smith’s arrest will now be scrubbed from the Police National Computer, with a marker stating he was subject to false allegations placed on the electronic system.
And a court order stated the force admits Mr Smith was ‘unlawfully’ arrested and detained, committed no offence and that officers ‘trespassed’ on his property.
It’s a second humiliating climbdown for the force, after it paid £20,000 to a couple unlawfully arrested after they complained about their daughter’s school on WhatsApp. Six officers were sent to the home of Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen in January last year and held the couple for 11 hours on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications.
Just weeks after this debacle, officers arrested Mr Smith, 47, seized his devices and detained him for a night at Hatfield police station.
Six days after his arrest on March 6, 2025, detectives noted in police logs that the search was ‘not lawful’ and the case was dropped.
What does this case say about police accountability and our right to free speech online?
Mr Smith writes a blog as Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General – named after a real 1600s figure who hunted women he accused of being witches.
He wrote an article about a woman falsely accused of being a paedophile, referring to two men as an extremist and a drug user after they had posted false information about her. This prompted the reports to police.
Body camera footage of the arrest shows Mr Smith answering the door in a dressing gown and visibly shaking.
Told he was arrested over false communications – a lowly summary offence – the search was carried out for more serious malicious communications offences.
Hertfordshire Police has now settled out of court and apologised to Mr Smith, who last night said he was ‘grateful’ to all those who backed his case.
