Sorry for the fontsizes etc it has all gone slightly weird and even when I edit it back it just reverts to another weird form.
Last night whilst taking a bendy bus home from a light evening of seeing Sweeney Todd, (which by the way is highly recommended) myself and another law student encountered a man on the bus, talking into his phone saying how he had been arrested.
According to him he had 6 or so.. glasses of wine and was walking towards a bus stop in central
Apparently the Poo lice then dragged him to the side of the road, to which the man responded with "fuck off". He was then arrested so he said under s.5 of some act to which I said it could have been the Public Order Act, and was charged £80. His female friend who he also was with, who had been drinking the same amount tried to step in, however also got herself arrested.
So in my legal and slightly drunk state I advised him to appeal to the decision.
So as I got home I tried to look up the relevant legal jargon, however the computer screen was shaking at me in a disagreeable manner.
I managed to pull up some basic research though:
S5 Public Order Act 1986
| (1) A person is guilty of an offence if he— | ||
| | (a) | uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or |
| | (b) | displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, |
DPP v Orum [1988] 3 All ER 449
A police officer is capable of being 'a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress' by 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior', for the purposes of s 5(1)a of the Public Order Act 1986. However, if he is not likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress by the words or behaviour used it is not likely that he will be able to arrest the person using the threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour under s 5(4) for offensive conduct, since the officer, if he is the only person present, will not be in a position to suspect that an offence under s 5(1) has been committed.
I suppose the man who liked his wine was arrested under s.5 because he swore in a public place and was perhaps viewed as being abusive, or using insulting words or behaviour.
And this
"Being drunk and disorderly is a crime and you may well be arrested or fined, rather than just told to quieten down. Being disorderly means being aggressive or abusive, or generally making a nuisance of yourself. Police can give you an on-the-spot fine of £80 for being drunk and disorderly. They can also arrest you if you are likely to be a danger to yourself or someone else, or if you are so drunk you won't remember being given an on-the-spot fine! If you are arrested you may have to sleep it off in the cells and may be charged in the morning."
from here
So he may in fact of been arrested under s.5 for using insulting words or abusive behaviour, or either for being drunk and disorderly.
Nice one Poo Lice.
2 comments:
Community Police Officers are even more jobsworth than Traffic Wardens, if that's at all possible. The Orgasmic Glee felt by such A Wannabe Acolyte of the State upon actually pressing a charge AND obtaining a fine seems entirely disproportionate to the evenings events......
This unfortunately is the worst example of PSCO's can be like. My mother is a PCSO and she actually does exactly what a PSCO should do ie. interact with the local public, provide a visible presence for the public, and to deal with low level anti social behaviour so the police can deal with more important things. Unfortnately some of them are massive jobsworths and like to think that they are coppers. It seems that this guy was a bit unfortunate and bumped in to the latter kind.
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