Police to pay IT director £34,000 in compensation for wrongfully detaining and keeping him in a cell for a night over a blog post

By GEORGE ODLING, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT and SIMON TRUMP Published: 22:58, 19 April 2026 | Updated: 22:58, 19 April 2026 Police will pay £34,000 in compensation to an IT director thrown in a cell for a night over a blog post. Samuel Smith took Hertfordshire Police to the High Court after a dozen officers arrived at his home, carried out an unlawful search and wrongfully detained him. His arrest will now be scrubbed from the Police National Computer, with a marker stating he was subjected to false allegations placed on the electronic system. A court order stated the force admits Mr Smith was ‘unlawfully’ arrested and detained, committed no offence and that officers ‘trespassed’ on his property. It’s a second humiliating climbdown for the force, after it paid £20,000 to a couple unlawfully arrested after they complained about their daughter’s school on WhatsApp. Six officers were sent to the home of Rosalind Levine and Maxie Allen in January last year and held the couple for 11 hours on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications. Just weeks after this debacle, officers arrested Mr Smith, 47, seized his devices and detained him for a night at Hatfield police station.  Six days after his arrest on March 6, 2025, detectives noted in police logs that the search was ‘not lawful’ and the case was dropped. After a dozen officers descended on his home for an illegal search and wrongful detention, Samuel Smith filed a High Court claim against the Hertfordshire Police Officers arrested Mr Smith, 47, seized his devices and detained him for a night at Hatfield police station Mr Smith writes a blog as Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General – named after a real 1600s figure who hunted women he accused of being witches. He wrote an article about a woman falsely accused of being a paedophile, referring to two men as an extremist and a drug user after they had posted false information about her. This prompted the reports to police. Body-worn footage of the arrest shows Mr Smith answering the door in a dressing gown and visibly shaking. Told he was arrested over false communications – a lowly summary offence – the search was carried out for more serious malicious communications offences. Hertfordshire Police has now settled out of court and apologised to Mr Smith, who last night said he was ‘grateful’ to all those who backed his case. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.