A mother of two was locked in a police cell for over seven hours after confiscating her daughters’ iPads — only to be wrongly accused of theft.

Vanessa Brown, a 50-year-old history teacher from Cobham, Surrey, was arrested after a man in his 40s reported the devices as stolen. A tracking signal led officers to her mother’s home, where Brown was detained for allegedly refusing to cooperate. Police later found the iPads and discovered they belonged to her children.

Brown described the experience as traumatic, saying she was searched, fingerprinted, and treated like a criminal, while police also pulled one of her daughters out of class. She was placed on bail with conditions that nearly kept her from seeing her children.

Surrey Police have since admitted their mistake, acknowledging that Brown had every right to take the devices away.

The incident follows growing criticism over police priorities, especially after another recent case in Hertfordshire where two parents were arrested for criticizing their daughter’s school in a WhatsApp group.

Former police commissioner Anthony Stansfeld called Brown’s arrest “unnecessary” and urged the Chief Constable to apologize.

Brown, who has lived in Cobham for nearly 20 years and heads the Theology department at a local school, said the police’s heavy-handed approach left her in a “catatonic state.”