Woman's confidential police records signed, sealed but not delivered

Thursday 28 January 2016

A woman who claims she was mocked and verbally abused in A&E by two police officers last summer says confidential information about her case has gone missing in the post.

Melanie Seal lodged a formal complaint in 2015 about two officers – one male and one female – who she says mocked her and said she should be "...placed in an electric wheelchair and sent up to St Saviour’s."

An independent police investigation found there was “no case to answer” but Ms Seal is still accusing the force of covering it up and wants to see both her police and medical records so that she can take the matter further.

She also wants CCTV of the night in question, but says that the Health department are refusing to release it.

The police have told her that they sent two packages to her by registered post but she says she's only received one and says she's yet to see any proof that the first package was even sent.

Ms Seal said: “What have the States of Jersey Police and Health & Social Services got to hide?  I just can't believe the amount of tax payers money they are wasting on not providing the evidence so I can get to the truth. I will continue to fight for justice and will not give up. 

“The legal, financial and reputational risks of failing to look after personal information are clear and the States of Jersey Police must have stringent security measures in place to protect individuals information and make sure it is handled correctly."

The police have offered to re-print the documents for her but she's says she doesn't want another set of sensitive, confidential information about her circulating.

They say they won't comment on the issue now that Ms Seal has formally complained.

Ms Seal, who has been open about her struggles with mental health issues, claims she’s been fobbed off since she lodged the complaint back in August last year. She's adamant she heard one officer saying to the other, "I'd like to give her a slap to make her talk", and that one was making chicken noises directed at her.