Video that police denied existed shows woman pinned down. #BBCNews

In September 2021, Nadine Buzzard Kashi, a business director from London who was in poor mental health and had been reported missing by her family, was located by police in Northampton. What followed was a controversial and disputed sequence of events captured on bodycam footage that Northamptonshire Police later falsely claimed did not exist — a denial serious enough to result in the chief constable receiving an unprecedented court fine.

Rather than approaching Nadine's situation as a welfare concern with de-escalation, officers deployed aggressive tactics including throwing metal spike strips (stingers) in front of her car without using blue lights, requesting armed response vehicles, and deploying a police helicopter. Nadine describes growing fear during the encounter, believing police were after footage she had in her car — a CCTV recording from six months earlier of her alleged wrongful detention by the Metropolitan Police, which reportedly contained graphic, unpixelated footage of her using a custody toilet.

Radio logs obtained by the BBC suggest that Northamptonshire Police officers were in regular contact with their counterparts in London, who appeared to be pressing for the urgency of apprehending Nadine. She was eventually arrested for failing to stop. During the arrest, she alleges her face was pushed into stinging nettles while being handcuffed. She was charged, but the case was later dropped.

Critically, when Nadine's belongings were returned to her, she claims the sensitive Met Police CCTV footage was missing. She is now pursuing seven-figure damages from both Northamptonshire Police and the Metropolitan Police. Both forces declined to comment on the ongoing legal action, though Northamptonshire Police stated in its civil defense that all of Nadine's belongings were returned and that the use of force during her arrest was lawful.