UK police arrest parents who criticized their child's school in WhatsApp group

Police in the United Kingdom arrested two parents who complained about their child's school

in an online chat group threat, according to reports. Six officers went to the home of Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine in January

After the school told her for sure police, the couple sent multiple critical emails

and wrote disparaging comments in the WhatsApp group, the Times-British newspaper reports

Allen is a radio producer for Times Radio and said police officers showed up at his house

and detained the couple in front of their daughter. The two spent 11 hours at the police station

answering questions and being locked in a police cell. The parents said they were held for suspicion of harassment

malicious communications, and causing a nuisance on school property. The parents told the times they were previously banned

from entering their daughter's school after questioning the process for appointing new school leadership

Allen and Levine said, even though they were barred from school property

they continued sending school leadership emails because their daughter is registered disabled

and they needed to give information on her medications and receive information about her education The couple told the times they found about 45 email threads between them and the school during the six months they were banned from school property Speaking about his arrest to the Times Alan said he was in complete disbelief

It was just unfathomable to me that things had escalated to this degree, he said

Cowley Hill Primary School released a statement about the ordeal saying, We sought advice from the police following a high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts from two parents

as this was becoming upsetting for staff, parents, and governors. We're always happy for parents to raise concerns

but we do ask that they do this in a suitable way and in line with school's published complaints procedure

Police arrested Allen and Levine on January 29th. After investigating, police released a statement saying in part

the arrests were necessary to fully investigate the allegations as is routine in these types of matters

Following further investigations, officers deemed that no, no further action should be taken due to insufficient evidence

The couple called the ordeal dystopian, saying the allegations against them were never properly explained

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Taylor. For more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit SAT.com