Border Force mishandled complaint about officer's behaviour

What happened

Ms W came to the UK in late spring 2014 to study English to enable her to apply for a visa to come and live here with her British husband. Before being granted entry, she was questioned at Heathrow Airport about her proposed visit. She complained to Border Force about one of the officers' aggressive and intimidating behaviour.

Border Force investigated Ms W's complaint but the officer in question could not recall the incident, which had happened less than a month before. Therefore, Border Force was unable to substantiate Ms W's complaint.

What we found

Border Force's investigation of Ms W's complaint was poor. It made no effort to investigate Ms W's complaint further when the officer had said that she did not recall the incident. Even though another officer had been present when the officer had questioned Ms W, Border Force did not speak to her about the incident. Border Force made no attempt to establish if CCTV footage of the incident still existed. Although CCTV footage had no sound, it may have helped investigate the complaint because Ms W had said that the officer had been standing very close to her in an intimidating manner. Also, Border Force did not try to establish the identity of a senior officer who had been dismissive about Ms W's complaint at the airport.

Putting it right

Border Force sent Ms W a written apology and paid her £150 in recognition of the inconvenience caused.

It also agreed to review its guidance on complaint handling with a view to taking steps to improve its investigation of complaints.