South Wales Police accused of making false arrest under the Terrorism Act

Martin Shipton

A Swansea woman has made a formal complaint alleging abuse of the Terrorism Act after she was arrested because of her daughter’s alleged involvement in an action against an Israeli arms company.

Emma Kamio, 57, claims she was left traumatised after her arrest in August, which led to her being held incommunicado for five days. Her daughter Leona, 29, was arrested at a Palestine Action protest at the premises of Elbit Systems UK, an Israeli-owned company based at Bristol.

Emma Kamio, who runs a homeopathy and pilates business, was initially held at a police station in Swansea before being transferred into the custody of counter-terrorism police, who she claims put her in a filthy cell, searched her repeatedly and left the lights on all night, which she described as “psychological torture”.

Abuse

The former nurse told the Guardian: “I disappeared from my family for five days due to the abuse of the Terrorism Act. I’m an ordinary, hard-working, middle-class single parent whose life will never be the same. My story can happen to anyone due to the overpolicing and the repression that is happening right now in the UK.”

She was driven at high speed along the motorway, with her arrested daughter in the same police vehicle. She said: “I can’t tell you how terrifying that was. I just had one hand on the panel and my foot up against the front to brace myself, because there was no lap strap or seatbelt, and all I kept thinking was one wrong move and my [other] children lose their mother and sister in one hit. Just hearing a blue light and a siren [now], my whole stomach is back to that 120mph down the motorway.”

She said the cell in Newbury that she was initially placed in for two days had “the last occupant’s old dried faeces encrusted around the toilet”, and she was searched every time she left the cell (as was the cell) and again when she re-entered.

Shock

Ms Kamio said she spent her time in custody worrying about her family, her clients and the impact on her business, which she had struggled to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic.

“I knew I was going into shock,” she said. “I was fine for a couple of days and then I noticed I was shaking, I couldn’t stand. You feel like an animal in a cage once they take your belongings off you, that’s the only way I could describe it.

“They took five days to ascertain that I was innocent. I was eventually released without charge, without my belongings and without an apology, left on the streets of Newbury in my scrubs.”

Ms Kamio said police had not returned the electronic devices – only one of which, a laptop, belonged to her daughter Leona – her clothes and expensive sandals she was wearing when arrested, or her jewellery, including platinum earrings her late mother had had made for her.

Complaint

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: “South Wales Police carried out a search of a property in the Swansea area in connection with an Avon & Somerset Police investigation. A 57-year-old woman was arrested and taken into custody before being transferred to Avon & Somerset. A complaint against police has been made which remains under investigation.”

Counter Terrorism Policing South East said Ms Kamio was “held in conjunction with the relevant legislation and codes of practice for arrest and detention whilst in custody”.

Thames ValleyPolice said their cells were cleaned regularly and any concerns raised were addressed.

It is understood that Emma Kamio was detained in the South Wales Police area for several hours before being transferred into the custody of another force.

Leona Kamio has been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary in relation to the protest, which the Crown Prosecution Service said had a “terrorist connection”. They are not offences under the Terrorism Act. In total, 18 people have been charged in relation to the 6 August incident.