Woman wins contempt ruling over police bodycam footage dispute

Nadine Buzzard-Quashie’s fight for police video turned into a finding of contempt after Northamptonshire Police repeatedly said there was no further body-worn footage from her arrest, then later conceded that more video did exist.

The case began with Buzzard-Quashie’s arrest on 3 September 2021. Charges were brought, then rapidly dropped. Three days later, she complained by telephone that officers had used excessive force, and she began asking for all bodycam footage from both the arrest and her detention.

Her request met a wall of denials. On 1 April 2022, the Information Commissioner’s Office ordered Northamptonshire Police to disclose all video of the arrest, including body-worn footage, after Buzzard-Quashie said the force had failed to provide it. Instead, the police made only piecemeal disclosure and repeatedly insisted that no such footage existed, or that it had been destroyed.

A further order came from Brentford County Court on 25 April 2023, requiring disclosure of all footage and, if any was unavailable, an explanation from an officer of at least inspector rank. That direction was not fully complied with, and the dispute escalated into contempt proceedings.

The Court of Appeal Civil Division heard the case on 22 October 2025 before Lady Justice Asplin, Lord Justice Coulson and Lord Justice Fraser. In a judgment handed down on 11 November 2025 in appeal case CA-2024-000967, the court held that the chief constable of Northamptonshire Police was in contempt over the failure to provide the footage. The judgment recorded that the force had repeatedly maintained that no further footage existed before additional video was later found.

Buzzard-Quashie was represented pro bono by James Leonard KC and Charlotte Elves, while the respondent was represented by Elliot Gold of the East Midlands Police Legal Department. A further hearing was listed for 20 November 2025 to consider sanction for the admitted contempt.

The ruling put a public authority’s handling of evidence under a harsh light. For Buzzard-Quashie, the issue was not only what happened on 3 September 2021, but whether a citizen could force a police service to account for records that officers first denied existed and later produced.