Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Shopper Accused For Photographing His Own Son

I'm not sure who deserves the 'Stupidest Jobsworth in Sunderland Award' more - the Bridges Shopping Centre security guard or the copper outside threatening to make an arrest:


According to his blog, Kevin visited the Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland with his son to spend the £10 his father gave the boy on a family visit. While there, he seated his son on a coin-operated train ride and snapped a photo of him with his cameraphone. At this point, a Bridges security guard came by and ordered him to stop taking pictures. He said that it was mall policy, and implied that Kevin was taking pictures because he was a paedophile. Kevin told him that this was ridiculous and took his son to find his wife and get out of the mall. He also took a picture of the security guard "so that if I later wanted to make a complaint to the centre I would be able to identify him."

Outside of the mall, Kevin was stopped by a police constable who had received a complaint from mall security that a suspicious potential paedophile had been taking pictures on its premises. The PC threatened to arrest Kevin "for creating a public disturbance" and ordered him to delete the photo of his son. The PC also averred that the Bridges Shopping Centre is a hotbed of paedophile assaults.

"Ordered him to delete the photo of his son" - using what piece of legislation precisely?

Hat-tip to Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing

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