A mother in the United Kingdom had to spend hours behind bars for taking away her child's iPad. Like any other well-meaning parent, Vanessa Brown wanted her two daughters to concentrate on their school work. So she took away their iPads. She took the devices with her to her mother's house, where she had gone for coffee. The police tracked the iPads to the location and arrested the 50-year-old history teacher.

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Brown spent nearly 12 hours at the Staines police station in Surrey and wasn't allowed to speak to her daughters since they were part of the investigation. The police also went to the girls' school and took them out of class to get the details.

A man complained about Brown

According to a spokesperson for Surrey Police, a man in his 40s reached out to the police on suspicion of potential theft. LBC reported that the cops followed the tracking devices on the iPads and found their way to Vanessa's mother's house.

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The spokesperson said, "Tracking device on the iPads showed that they were at the address and a 50-year-old woman from Cobham was arrested on suspicion of theft."

They searched the premises and found the iPads at the home, following which Brown was arrested.

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Brown was allowed to leave on bail, but the conditions included not speaking with her daughters till the investigation was over. The probe revealed that the iPads belonged to the woman’s children, and she was within her rights to confiscate items from her own children, the spokesperson said.

Brown is outraged that she and her mother had to go through the ordeal. Speaking to LBC, Brown admitted that the experience was "traumatic" and the police "overreacted."

"At no point did they [the officers] think to themselves, ‘Oh, this is a little bit of an overreaction for a moment, confiscating temporarily her iPads and popping over to her mum's to have a coffee.’ It was just a complete overreaction."

Brown is livid that they questioned her 80-year-old mother like a "criminal."