Businessman arrested in £12k police investigation for an email he didn't write

As reported by the Mail on Sunday, a businessman was recently arrested at home in front of his wife and 11 year-old son over an email which the council deemed offensive to gypsies.

The man, who has asked not to be named, had his DNA taken and was fingerprinted in a police investigation estimated to have cost up to £12,000.

The IT company chief was held in a police cell for four hours until it was established he had nothing to do with the email, which had actually been sent by one of his then co-workers, Mr Osmond.

As explained in the Mail,

The email, concerning a planning appeal by a gypsy, included the phrase: "It’s the 'do as you likey' attitude that I am against."

Council staff believed the email was offensive because ‘likey’ rhymes with the derogatory term ‘pikey’.

Sussex Police said they had arrested the businessman over ‘suspicion of committing a racial or religious-aggravated offence’.

Chief Inspector Heather Keating said: ‘Sussex Police have a legal duty to promote community cohesion and tackle unlawful discrimination.

Tellingly, the case was closed last week when Mr Osmond - the original sender - who had been arrested and bailed, was told there would be no further police action.

So, to summarise; a law-abiding citizen who was at home with his family is handcuffed, taken to a police station, had his DNA taken, and is held in a cell for an evening because of an email which a) he didn't send, b) had only a very tenuous implication of racism, and c) was eventually cleared of being racist in the slightest.

Not only that, the only actual offender in this case would appear to be the woman who erected a mobile home in a beauty spot without planning permission, which prompted the council to issue an enforcement notice in the first place. 

This case is an outrageous example of council's going after the easy target for spurious reasons, rather than broaching the real issue which might prove much harder to resolve.

On another note, I must also take issue with the comments of Chief Inspector of Sussex Police: "(we) have a legal duty to promote community cohesion". Wrong. The purpose of the police is to keep law and order.  

There ought to be punishment and investigations launched into how an innocent man was treated so appallingly, but instead it transpires that the police want to hold the businessman's DNA indefinitely. A shocking abuse of power which Big Brother Watch intends to fight from today.

By Dylan Sharpe

Comments

[Heresiarch]

Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 the police, and other public authorities, do indeed have a legal duty to promote racial equality, harmony etc. This includes a duty to "promote good race relations between persons of different racial groups", which is presumably what is meant here. Other duties require them to promote religious and sexual equality as well. Under the new Equality Bill, the duty of the police and other public bodies to promote various forms of equality is being expanded even further.

You may think that the police's only legal duty should be to uphold the law, investigate crime and maintain the Queen's peace. The government has other ideas, and has legislated several times to bring its other ideas into effect.

[alastair]

Someone should provide the Chief Inspector with a dictionary, so that he may check the definition of the word "promote" and thereby understand that arresting people is not an appropriate way to promote anything.

He might also wish to consider how keeping this man's DNA on file against his wishes and in spite of his not being guilty of any crime "promotes community cohesion".

[LeChiffre]

@alastair

The CI is called Heather: sounds like a 'she' not a 'he'. But do as you likey!

[LeChiffre]

Send an email such as "Do as you likey, pikies" to the council planning dept: http://www.rother.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=125

[Accountability]

I think we need an independant body/org who can investigate complaints from the public and has the power to order punitive and legal remedy against police forces and individual officers who abuse their power as is the case in the news article above.
"ITS TIME FOR CHANGE"

[dmh]

Heather.Keating@sussex.pnn.police.uk

Go on you know you want to.