A young psytrance fan, who was mistakenly arrested for vagrancy when leaving Waveform Festival on the 2nd of September 2012, is suing Avon & Somerset Constabulary for wrongful arrest.
Police say that they arrested Simon Daniels on suspicion of homelessness after receiving reports from residents expressing concern of anti-social behaviour by homeless people in the area.
Arresting officer Special Constable Andrew Shipley claims to have spotted Mr. Daniels “acting and looking suspicious” near the village of Taunton in Somerset when he stopped him “urinating in a hedge by the side of the road while under the influence of drugs”.
“I was alerted to the possible presence of homeless people in the area engaged in anti-social behaviour so when I observed Mr. Daniels I performed a routine stop, and after brief questioning I arrested him for vagrancy based on how disheveled he looked and how he fit the description of the homeless person we had.”
Special Constable Shipley claims that Mr. Daniels was dressed in “brightly coloured but very muddy rags with an unkempt beard” and that he had “thick, clotted hair like dreadlocks” with “skin that was badly tanned from exposure to the elements and he smelled vaguely of wood smoke and alcohol.”
“He basically fit every description of a homeless person you come across as a policeman,” he added. “He had in his possession a backpack filled with more dirty clothes, a small amount of cannabis, empty wraps of speed and a small stereo playing strange, loud and fast music.”
“The suspect denied he was homeless and claimed to be waiting for a bus following a music festival, but failed to produce identification or convince me that a person who wasn’t homeless would choose to present themselves as he did,” continued Constable Shipley. “At that point I had no choice but to arrest him under the public order act where he subsequently appeared before a magistrate and was convicted.”
Mr. Daniels, who pleaded his innocence throughout the arrest was subsequently order to pay a £100 fine which he refused to do so on the grounds that the conviction was a mistake. Upon failure of payment of the fine he was then remanded in custody and sentenced to 30 days in prison, but was released after 12.
“What happened to me is an absolute disgrace,” insisted Mr. Daniels who is now suing Avon & Somerset Constabulary for wrongful arrest and imprisonment. “The arresting officer completely denied any of my protestations that I wasn’t homeless and that I was a psytrance fan and that was just how we dress. He laughed in my face and said even if I wasn’t homeless anyone who chooses to dress like Worzel Gummidge deserves to be arrested.”
“It’s a shocking case of genre profiling,” he continued. “If I was a tech-house fan they wouldn’t have arrested me, they’d probably have just thought I was a H&M model, took my ket and let me off with a warning.”
“Just because I look like a malnourished futuristic crustie doesn’t make me homeless,” he added.
The case is ongoing at Taunton Crown Court.
