An 80-year-old woman arrested for holding a placard at a pro-Palestine rally has said she is deeply traumatised after she was held by police for almost 27 hours, during which officers forced their way into her house and searched it.

Marianne Sorrell from Wells, Somerset was detained at a rally in Cardiff on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, which earlier this month became the first direct action group to be banned under UK anti-terrorism laws.

She said officers removed 19 items from her house, including iPads, a Palestine flag, books on Palestine, material related to Extinction Rebellion and the climate crisis, as well as drumsticks for – and a belt that holds – her samba drum. A friend who went to feed the cats and walked in on the police searching the house said there appeared to be a geiger counter – which measures radiation – on the table.

Sorrell, a retired teacher, said: “At 80, to be treated like a dangerous terrorist is deeply shocking. I’ve been very traumatised by this. Every morning I wake up feeling sick, nauseous. [I have] had to take anti-sickness pills.