Woman left in hospital after being mistakenly arrested for breaking into her own van

Terri Finney, 34, was left ‘bleeding uncontrollably’ after officers dumped her on the ground and handcuffed her in Waverley Road, Southsea, on Saturday.

Police turned up after responding to a report of a break-in when they found Ms Finney with a paint scraper trying to get into her own vehicle after accidentally locking the keys inside.

But overzealous officers failed to listen to Ms Finney’s pleas that she was the owner of the van before arresting her – injuring her in the process and leaving her needing treatment in A&E.

Ms Finney told The News: ‘A police officer got out of the car and without saying a word grabbed both my arms and shouted “stop what you're doing”.

‘I said I locked my keys in my car. But the officer replied “we'll see about that” and increased his grip and held me against the van.

‘I said to check the vehicle but he just laughed and continued to restrain me. I tried to step away from the van and he grabbed me harder.

‘The whole time I was held like a criminal which left bruises up my arm.’

Events continued to spiral out of control as Ms Finney attempted to make a phone call. ‘At that point they decided to handcuff me,’ she said.

‘As they pulled my hand up they realised I had the paint scraper, which they ripped out of my hand and caused extensive trauma to two of my fingers which I needed an operation on.

‘They bent my hand to force the cuffs on, spun me around, put their knee in my back pushed me to the ground and forced my head on the floor. I was bleeding uncontrollably.

‘I continued to be treated like an animal. I wasn't told why I was arrested, which is the law.’

With blood pouring out of her wounds, Ms Finney was taken to A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital where she suffered the humiliation of having to wait three hours in handcuffs with ‘everyone looking at me like I had murdered someone’.

Ms Finney was told by police they would not be arresting her but later said the incident was her fault.

She underwent surgery on her fingers but now faces six weeks off work. ‘I need my hands for my job and will be off work for several weeks and have suffered damage to my reputation,’ Ms Finney added.

A police spokeswoman said: ‘Officers located a woman appearing to break into a van, she was holding a screwdriver and a paint scraper.

‘The woman was arrested on suspicion of going equipped for theft and having an offensive weapon.’

But police admitted the error.

‘Further enquiries identified that the van belonged to the woman and she was de-arrested with no further action taken,’ the spokeswoman added.

‘No formal complaint has been received in relation to this incident.’