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A student who was handcuffed at school because an officer believed he had indecent images of a fellow pupil on his phone was detained unlawfully, a judge has ruled.
Corey Clarke, 23, was arrested at Southmoor Academy in Sunderland in 2018 after staff were told that he was “blackmailing” a female pupil.
The then-16-year-old was taken in a marked police car to Southwick Police Station and held for seven hours before being released.
In 2024, Judge William Hanbury concluded that the arrest was necessary and dismissed Mr Clarke’s claim.
But this was overturned by Mr Justice Kimblin at the High Court, who said it was “neither unavoidable nor the last resort to arrest the appellant”.
In a judgment on Friday, he said: “The school and other agencies seem to me to have reacted calmly and sensitively and in a supportive way.
“However, I have concluded, with some considerable regret, that the officer went further than was reasonable in respect of a child at his place of education.”
Mr Justice Kimblin said the officer later recorded that he believed the arrest was necessary “to protect a young, vulnerable person and prevent loss of evidence”.
He added, however: “The appellant did not have his phone with him.
“It was unnecessary to arrest him at school to obtain a phone which he did not have.
“For the same reason, children were not at risk because the appellant had been withdrawn from his class and did not have his phone.”
The judge continued: “I have found that the arrest was unlawful and it follows that the handcuffing and detention were also unlawful.”
