The harrowing story of Neomi Bennett's stop and search encounter with the police has reached the national dailies.
The Metro reports Bennett was suspended from her job as a nurse after being convicted of obstructing a constable by refusing repeated demands to get out of her car ‘because she was suffering a panic attack at the time’.
The nurse was taken to Kingston Police Station where she spent 19 hours in custody, before being charged to attend trial at Wimbledon Magistrates Court at a later date. The magistrates hearing the case ruled Bennett ‘took too long’ to get out of her car, finding her guilty and leaving her with a £900 court bill. This was despite Bennett producing a medical letter detailing her PTSD which stemmed from a serious flat fire which, in the expert’s view, rendered her ‘unable to comply with police instructions’ due to a combination of anxiety and panic attacks as well as traumatic flashbacks.
Bennett – who had never been in trouble with the police before – has a pedigree as a distinguished nurse awarded a British Empire Medal by the Queen for her work designing a life-saving product to help prevent deep vein thrombosis.
She is now fighting to have the ‘devastating’ conviction overturned and be ‘a voice for others’ who have to endure the same ‘soul-destroying’ experience, and has also called for more accountability over the controversial stop and search procedure after claiming her distinguished career could potentially have been ruined by officers ‘abusing’ the powers.
Please cilck here for the full story in the Metro: https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/23/nurse-suspended-failing-police-told-panicked-10964877/
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