‘Who’s screenshotting our messages?’: how a WhatsApp saga spiralled into two parents’ wrongful arrest

When Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine posted complaints about their local primary school, they never expected six uniformed police officers to turn up at their door

Before it catapulted a small school community in London's commuter belt into the centre of a global news story, the year-four class WhatsApp group at Cowley Hill school in Borehamwood was unremarkable - a place of snide comments, reminders about non-uniform day and flustered messages about being late for the school run.

It was mum gossip, you know?" said one member, Sarah. A bit juicy, but it wasn't anything nasty."