‘Handcuffed and stripped naked’ for not having mask
A WOMAN ‘wrongfully’ arrested then strip-searched for not wearing a face mask in Waitrose is suing police.
Juliet Johnson said security guards and a manager quizzed her for not donning a protective covering while shopping in the store during the pandemic.
Although she claims she ‘proved’ she did not need to wear one as she suffers from an autoimmune disease which affects her breathing, police were called.
The 55-year-old was ‘peacefully and quietly’ pushing a trolley around Waitrose in Chichester, West Sussex, on February 25, when two officers approached and arrested her.
She was then detained at a police station for two hours before being released without charge.
The IT consultant also alleges she was forced to strip naked by police, which the force has denied.
‘The manager called police without my knowledge,’ she said. ‘I had already proved I did not need to wear a mask. I, like many others, suffer from a chronic health condition, invisible on the outside but at times debilitating.
‘I was not abusive. They handcuffed me and put me in the back of a police car. The one thing I was upset about was they made me strip naked. This
was the main thing in my witness statement and the police completely ignored it,’ she added.
Ms Johnson claims she has since been banned from Waitrose and John Lewis stores and can no longer order goods online from the retailers.
She is suing Sussex Police for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, assault and disability discrimination.
On a crowdfunding page, which has so far raised £2,600, she states: ‘Don’t let the police get away with human rights abuse. It is time for action.’
Sussex Police would not comment ‘while the legal matter is ongoing’.
Waitrose also refused to comment.