Battery Charger...

"I'm detaining you mate."

"No you're not."

Good to see the British pantomime tradition isn't dead, with some security idiot thinking it's quite acceptable to commit assault, battery and false imprisonment upon two men for taking pictures in a public place.

According to the story, the men were attacked by up to 7 people before a Police officer arrived, and even she had to get confirmation of the legal rights the photographers already knew they had, before she was willing to release them.

Assault: An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful force. (Archbold 19-166 and 19-172)

If the assault is followed by the physical act, the physical act is called Battery.

Hence the term Assault and Battery.

Battery: A battery is committed when a person intentionally and recklessly applies unlawful force to another. (Archbold 19-166a and 19-174 to 19-175).

For the most part, Trespass is a civil, not criminal offence. If the land is private, the owner or their representatives have the right to ask you to cease photographing and leave. But no more than that.

Any developments from then on need to be handled by the Police.

The security guard did have the right to detain someone (as long as he thought they had or were committing a crime - which they weren't - so it was assault) while the Police made their way to the scene. It's commonly known as a 'Citizens Arrest'.

But this is a right available to EVERYONE - so as one Flickr commenter suggests, if this ever happens to you...if some paedo-obsessed moron, Andy McNab-reading security goon, or any other 'have a go hero' tries it on and starts pushing you round, giving you grief, demanding you erase pictures, damaging your kit?

Get your phone out, dial 999 and detain THEM, especially if they've assaulted you.

It's your right.

Comments

[mikethehack]

Agreed, but you know how pop-culture it is for people to take swipes or swings at journalists. People seem to think they have a right.

Mind you, most of these people are the same tabloid trash reading rednecks that buy the papers that encourage paps to behave so ignorantly in the first place and give us all a bad name.

I would call the cops, but then I would also expect them to take the side of the people who were giving me a kicking.

Same as it ever was.