This is the moment a gender-critical Catholic mother was arrested in her home in front of her children and body searched after police swooped on her house over series of ‘malicious’ online posts.
Caroline Farrow, a vicar’s wife and mother-of-five, shared a lengthy thread on Twitter detailing her experience with Surrey Police after two police officers reportedly ‘forced’ their way into her home to arrest her on Monday night.
While in the middle of preparing a roast dinner for her priest husband Robin and five children on Sunday, two police officers are said to have demanded she join them for an interview under caution.
She said when she asked ‘do you have a warrant’, Ms Farrow claimed they replied ‘We don’t need one’.
Photographs show one officer appearing to put his hand on the front door to stop her from closing it, and another shows her being searched outside.
The row stems from a series of anonymous posts shared on forums on website Kiwi Farms in June. Mrs Farrow is accused of posting ‘malicious’ content and ‘harassing’ other users on the online platform.
A spokesperson for Surrey Police said officers attended the address in Guildford as part of a probe into ‘allegations of malicious communications and harassment’ , adding that officers ‘seized a number of electronic devices’.
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector David Bentley said the devices had been seized as police continue to ‘gather further evidence and carry out an investigation to prove or disprove the allegation’.
Mrs Farrow has strenuously denied the accusations, explaining instead that she was playing the organ during Mass at the Holy Angels Church, Aldershot during the times the posts were made.
She was previously the subject of a five-month police investigation – after she was accused of calling a transgender woman a ‘he’ on Twitter.
Speaking to GB news last night, Mrs Farrow said: ‘I have been arrested for what was a twitter spat about gender issues.’
She explained how the officers confiscated electronic devices, including some at her husband’s parish office next door that her autistic son uses for home schooling.
Ms Farrow also shared pictures of the moment Surrey Police officers arrived at her home to arrest her over her Twitter feed
Caroline Farrow, a journalist and mother-of-five, shared a lengthy thread online detailing her experience with Surrey Police
The row allegedly stems from a series of anonymous posts shared on forums on Kiwi Farms in June
Mrs Farrow told of how she was also taken outside and searched before she was taken to a police station, where she was kept for several hours.
She said: ‘One minute I was making dinner for my kids and then next I was having my socks checked for drugs. This took up an entire shift. What an absolute waste of police’s time.
‘I was then shown other material that police were accusing me of sending. None of them were my doing.’
Mrs Farrow was released under investigation in the early hours of Monday morning.
Mrs Farrow later shared images purportedly showing her being frisked by officers in her driveway, claimed her electronic devices were seized and said she had to surrender her jewellery before being interviewed at a police station in Guildford.
She tweeted: ‘When read my rights and told that what I said could be used in evidence against me, I replied that women don’t have an [aubergine emoji – often used online to refer to a penis].’
Farrow, who works at the UK and Ireland director of Catholic campaigning website CitizenGo, said the whole ordeal had left her feeling ‘harassed and anxious’.
She tweeted: ‘I know it’s procedure, but one minute I am cooking some roast chicken for dinner, the next I am having my socks searched for drugs, because of ‘insulting posts on the internet.’
‘It’s scary that the police can take someone’s word for something and just come and arrest you. All they could say is ‘we’ve had an allegation which needs to be investigated”.
Sentences for those found guilty under the Malicious Communications Act can be as long as two years.
Mrs Farrow, who once complained of her life being ‘invaded and dominated by insane trans rights activists’, has previously been publicly supported by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Mrs Farrow is accused of posting ‘malicious’ content and ‘harassing’ other users on the online platform
She has strenuously denied the allegations, explaining instead that she was playing the organ during Mass at the Holy Angels Church, Aldershot
Mrs Farrow was investigated by the same police force in 2019 over allegations she had used the wrong pronoun to describe a transgender woman.
The Catholic campaigner, known for her deeply held religious views, and Susie Green, the head of transgender children’s charity Mermaids, clashed on ITV’s Good Morning Britain about Girl Guides allowing children who have changed gender to join the organisation.
Mrs Farrow later called Ms Green’s daughter Jackie ‘him’ instead of ‘her’ on Twitter and said Mermaids promoted child abuse. Five weeks later, Ms Green complained to police.
One of Mrs Farrow’s tweets read: ‘What she did to her own son [the youngest person in the world to undergo transgender surgery] is illegal. She mutilated him by having him castrated and rendered sterile while still a child.’
The four-month Surrey Police investigation into Mrs Farrow, which prompted much controversy when made public, was hastily dropped as it hurtled towards full-blown fiasco.
A spokesperson for Surrey Police said: ‘On Monday, October 3, officers attended an address in the Guildford area as part of an investigation into allegations of malicious communications (sending of indecent, grossly offensive messages, threats, or information) and harassment.
‘A 48-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of both offences.
‘A number of electronic devices were seized as potential evidence from this address under section 19 of PACE. Where an offence is alleged to have been committed on an electronic device, for example, it may hold a key piece of evidence and may routinely be seized during an investigation.
‘The woman was taken to Guildford Police Station where she was interviewed. She has now been released under investigation and inquiries remain ongoing’.
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector David Bentley said: ‘There is significant commentary on social media around the perceived circumstances behind this investigation.
‘We do not have the freedom of detailing every stage of our inquiries or the specifics of an allegation on social media as it is critical we do not pre-empt or prejudice any future proceedings at any stage.
‘When we receive an allegation of a crime, in this instance one where a grossly offensive message is said to have been communicated, it is our job to assess it alongside any available evidence to identify if an offence has been committed.
‘If it has, we gather further evidence and carry out an investigation to prove or disprove the allegation. That is exactly the process that is being followed in this case.
‘The investigation into these allegations is very much ongoing and the relevant inquiries are being carried out.
‘We have a duty to protect the integrity of an investigation, so we will not be providing a running commentary on this case.’
‘I’ll go to jail for my beliefs’ says devout Catholic mother set to be questioned by police for calling someone’s transgender daughter ‘he’ in a tweet after they debated primary school sex education with Piers Morgan on GMB
Caroline Farrow (pictured above) has been asked to attend a voluntary interview by police after allegedly ‘misgendering’ someone in a tweet
A devout Catholic and mother is the subject of a five-month police investigation – after she was accused of calling a transgender woman a ‘he’ on Twitter.
Caroline Farrow, a broadcaster and writer for Roman Catholic newspapers, said she had a phone call from an officer on Monday asking her to attend an interview.
Mrs Farrow, 44, said she may have posted the suspect tweet following an appearance on Good Morning Britain last September, during which she took part in a debate on transgender children.
She said she was prepared to go to jail, adding: ‘I don’t know what I am suspected to have done. The only thing I can think of is that I may have referred to a 23-year-old transgender woman as someone’s “son”.
‘I try at all times to be polite on Twitter, but it is my belief on both a religious and scientific basis that you cannot change the sex into which you were born.’
She added the officer said her tweets had ‘misgendered’ an individual by using the wrong pronoun, which could be an offence under the Malicious Communications Act.
Sentences for those found guilty under this act can be as long as two years.
Jackie Green (right) formally Jack, had a sex change after turning 16. She is the daughter of Susie Green (left) who appeared on Good Morning Britain alongside Caroline Farrow
Caroline Farrow (right) had appeared alongside Susie Green (left) in September 2018 to discuss Girl Guiding policies
Caroline Farrow tweeted that she had a message from Guilford police regarding her tweets following her September appearance on Good Morning Britain
The law makes it a crime to send messages that are indecent or grossly offensive, threatening, or contain information which is false or believed to be false, if the purpose for sending it is to cause distress or anxiety.
The Twitter incident followed a studio debate between Mrs Farrow and Susie Green, a transgender campaigner whose daughter Jackie, 25, is transgender.
Mrs Farrow, who is married to a priest, said she was ‘worried and alarmed’ following the call from police.
She wrote on Twitter yesterday: ‘I don’t even remember said tweets! I probably said “he” or “son” or something. I have done nothing wrong, nothing illegal and will happily do jail time for my right to say that people cannot change sex.’
Jackie (left) and her mother Susie (right) pictured at their home on Leeds shortly after Jackie had the operation
Jackie Green (pictured above) had previously appeared on This Morning to discuss her place at the Miss England finals
The tweet case was pursued by Surrey Police, whose former Chief Constable Lynne Owens said in 2015 that as a result of £25million in cuts and the loss of 250 officers, minor crimes would be ignored in favour of investigation of offences against vulnerable people.
The force confirmed yesterday that it received an allegation over tweets by Miss Farrow on October 15.
A spokesman said: ‘A thorough investigation is being carried out to establish whether any criminal offences have taken place.
‘A 44-year-old woman has been asked to attend a voluntary interview in relation to the allegation as part of our ongoing investigation.
‘We have been made aware that a number of allegations have since been made on Twitter and we will be making contact with the person concerned in relation to these posts.’
Jackie Green (left) and her mother Susie (right). Jackie had previously said that at the age of four she told her mother that she should have been born a girl
Jackie was born Jack (left as a baby) and her mother Susie is now a transgender activist (Susie and Jackie as a baby pictured right on Susie’s wedding day)
In 2012 Jackie Green made history when she became the first transgender Miss England finalist.
Jackie, who was born Jack and spent her childhood trying to persuade her parents she had been born in to the wrong body, said: ‘I knew from the start that I was a girl, it was just actually having the vocabulary to make people understand.
‘I would have had the surgery at five years old if I could. After the surgery it felt like starting life for the first time.
‘Loads of kids go through stages, some people go down the transgender route and then change their minds, mostly because they don’t have the support of their family.
‘At primary school I dressed as a boy for the majority of the time. The kids understood and just took it in their stride.
‘But secondary school was horrible. I was being spat on, being beaten up and called so many different names. The parents were the worst.
‘I was prescribed ‘blockers’ by a doctor in Boston when was I was twelve. It basically paused puberty and it saved my life. I would have killed myself. I wouldn’t have been able to cope.’
Jackie Green pictured as a youngster before surgery. She said she always insisted on wearing girls clothing and growing her hair
Jackie (formerly Jack) is pictured above wearing a patterned dress with a fringe cut. Jackie had told her mother that she should have been born a girl
Susie and Jackie (pictured above) the pair enjoyed a holiday to Thailand before Jackie had her operation
When Jackie was aged just four she told her mother Susan: ‘God has made a mistake, I should be a girl.’
Trapped in a body she hated, Jackie first overdosed aged 11 and made six more suicide attempts before she was 15. Medicines were locked in a safe and knives had to be hidden away. She threatened to mutilate her genitals.
And so, aged 16, Jackie Green became the youngest person in the world to undergo transgender surgery.
She said:‘Without that surgery, I wouldn’t be here now.
‘I’m a girl, I always have been – there’s never been any doubt in my mind about that. It’s just that my body didn’t match because, as far as I’m concerned, I had a birth defect.’
Jackie (pictured on Instagram above) was the real life inspiration for a drama starring Anna Friel called Butterly which charted the transition of a boy to a girl
Jackie (centre) had the support of her mother Susie (right) and her father (left)
The row blew up on the same day as it emerged the Oxford English Dictionary is introducing genderneutral words in what editors said was an ‘attempt to grapple’ with the sensitive topic.
These include ‘hir’ and zir’ as alternative pronouns to him, his or her, ‘peoplekind’ rather than mankind, and ‘Latin@’ as a gender-neutral term for someone of either sex from Latin America.
Meanwhile, the verb ‘misgender’ could apply to anyone who makes any gaffes.
Following her gender reassignment Jackie (left and right) has been a finalist in beauty pageants
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