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Handcuffed photographer wins police apology

A photojournalist who was handcuffed by police after being refused permission to take a picture at the scene of a fatality has won compensation and an apology from the force.

Bob Naylor had been attending a canal boat fire near Pewsey, Wiltshire in which someone had died when the incident occurred in May 2009.

He approached a police sergeant and said he wanted to take a picture of the general scene, but the officer refused.

Bob decided to leave the scene, but as he was doing so he was seized from behind, forced to the ground and handcuffed, and told he was being arrested for ‘breach of the peace.’

His case was eventually taken up by the National Union of Journalists and this week he won compensation and an apology from the Wiltshire force.

It states: “On 22 May 2009 well-respected photojournalist Bob Naylor was reporting at a crime scene of a fire on a canal boat.

“Wiltshire Police has accepted Mr Naylor was prevented from taking photographs and unlawfully detained and that his Article 10 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights were breached.

“Wiltshire Police apologise for this and have paid compensation and given this apology. Wiltshire Police recognise that on 22 May 2009 they failed to respect press freedom in respect of Mr Naylor contrary to Wiltshire Police’s own guidelines for working with members of the press.”

Guidelines adopted by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in 2007 state: “Members of the media have a duty to take photographs and film incidents and we have no legal power or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict what they record.

“If someone who is distressed or bereaved asks for police to intervene to prevent members of the media filming or photographing them, we may pass on their request but we have no power to prevent or restrict media activity.”

Said Bob: “This happened two years ago when photographers were all too often being attacked whilst going about their lawful work. I have worked with Wiltshire and other police forces for decades and I have never had cause to take issue with them until this incident

“It was clear that neither the sergeant nor the inspector at the scene were aware of the Chief Constable’s guidelines for working with the press. Not only was I stopped from doing my job but the violent treatment meted out to me was wholly unacceptable.

NUJ legal officer Roy Mincoff commented: “This disgraceful case shows how all journalists doing their job can be vulnerable to attack, not just those covering major protests.

“The union is here to support them, and we are pleased that Bob Naylor has secured an acknowledgement from Wiltshire police that what was done to him was wrong and unacceptable.”