Jennifer Swayne v Gwent Police
Woman who is disabled takes Gwent police to court for violent, unnecessary arrest for stickering
Jennifer Swayne is taking Gwent police to court for wrongful arrest, physical assault and what she deems a hate crime towards her.
On 23nd January 2022, Ms Swayne was seen by a group of police officers placing a sticker onto a lamppost in Newport. The sticker read “Humans can’t change sex” and “no child is born in the wrong body”.
Ms Swayne alleges the police surrounded her, told her she was ‘detained’ and that she must attend a voluntary interview because she had committed a ‘hate crime’. Ms Swayne appealed to the surrounding police that the stickers were not ‘hateful’ but was told that some people may perceive them to be and that can become a public order offence.
Ms Swayne, a wheelchair user, was prohibited from leaving the scene, arrested and spent 13 hours in a police cell, with contact with her carer and medication withheld. She was subjected to a long interview and then released in the early hours of the morning into freezing temperatures.
While in custody, Ms Swayne’s house was subject to a police search, whereby all of her stickers, a book called ‘Inventing transgender children and young people” by Heather Brunskell-Evans and Michele Moore, and her handwritten notes were seized.
The investigation was dropped 3 months later.
Ms Swayne is holding Gwent police to account for allegedly violently arresting her, their lack of understanding regarding free speech, their inability to deal with disabled people and misunderstanding the law in regards to Equality Act 2010.
Status
On 9th April 2024, Jennifer Swayne announced Gwent Poluce had folded and promised the money had requested for wrongful arrest.
Press coverage
Here are links to a selection of relevant press coverage about this case. These links are included without comment and are not endorsed by Tribunal Tweets. This is a sample of coverage only, with most recent first - it is not comprehensive. Please DM our main Twitter account to submit coverage from an established news outlet. Any paywalled article must be archived.
23 Oct 2023
The Critic - The curious priorities of the police
31 Aug 2023
Spiked - The British police are institutionally woke
6 Jan 2023
[VIDEO] Talk TV - Kevin Sullivan & Kellie-Jay Keen discuss Jennifer Swayne
29 May 2022
Glinner Update - Jenni Swayne's magnificent police interview
14 April 2022
BBC - No charges over allegedly abusive Newport trans stickers
13 April 2022
Spiked - How the police enforce trans ideology
20 March 2022
24 Feb 2022
South Wales Argus - As it happened: Newport Police Station protest in support of Jennifer Swayne
2 Feb 2022
Christian Institute - Women’s rights campaigner arrested for ‘Woman = Adult Human Female’ posters
31 Jan 2022
Spiked - The woke police are a menace to freedom
28 Jan 2022
[VIDEO] Silencing Women - The arrest of Jennifer Swayne
27 Jan 2022
The Times - Police seize ‘anti-trans’ book from activist Jennifer Swayne in raid on home
BBC - Newport: Nothing hateful in stickers, says arrested woman
24 Jan 2022
[Podcast] Savage minds - Jennifer Swayne