Police arrest terminally ill man.

Capt Lightning

Capt Lightning

Well-known Member
Location
Historic Buchan, Scotland
As reported in the news today...

"A terminally ill man who wanted to fulfil one of his bucket list wishes by mooning at a speed camera found himself being wrestled to the ground in his garden by six police officers. Darrell Meekcom, 55, has written a list of things he wants to do before he dies after he was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, a terminal condition which affects the nervous system.

He managed to tick one of these off his list last week when he bared his naked bottom at a mobile speed camera van in Kidderminster, Worcestershire."

There obviously isn't any crime in Kidderminster when the police can spare six cops to assault him. Hope he sues them.
 

I agree that just because you're terminally ill, you shouldn't be free to break the law... but I think we many of us have said we'd do x/y or z if we got a terminal diagnosis.. and mooning at a speed camera is very tiny law to break..in fact I doubt there is such a law, and 6 burly Coppers battering a terminally ill man for showing his bum.. is absolutely over the top... and shocking, we can't get police to come out to people being mugged or assaulted but they'll batter a terminally ill man, for mooning..:eek:. Hmmmm. there better be more to this story or I'm sure I won't be the only one angry at this....
 

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How were the police supposed to know he was terminally ill? They also don't know ahead of time exactly how many other police are going to go to a call. I'm sure if someone was being mugged at exactly the same time and they got that call on their radio they would have gone to that.
 
This is in the same league as the two cops who, during the covid restrictions, fined two women joggers for carrying a flask of coffee. The police claimed that they were having a picnic. The police were mercilessly ridiculed in the press and had to cancel the fines and apologise for their actions. Some cops just seem to go over the top when a simple reprimand would suffice.
 
Aunt Bea said:
It sounds like there may be more to this story. :unsure:

I'm a diabetic how many laws should I be allowed to break?
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Perhaps, but, most MSA patients pass away from the disease or its complications within 6-10 years. That's not the same as being diabetic. Also, as Capt said... why 6 officers? Obviously they got a report of someone mooning a sign.
 
Della said:
How were the police supposed to know he was terminally ill? They also don't know ahead of time exactly how many other police are going to go to a call. I'm sure if someone was being mugged at exactly the same time and they got that call on their radio they would have gone to that.
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Obviously the cops didn't know about his health. The point is that they overreacted to a trivial incident - irrespective of who carried it out.
 
Capt Lightning said:
As reported in the news today...

"A terminally ill man who wanted to fulfil one of his bucket list wishes by mooning at a speed camera found himself being wrestled to the ground in his garden by six police officers. Darrell Meekcom, 55, has written a list of things he wants to do before he dies after he was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, a terminal condition which affects the nervous system.

He managed to tick one of these off his list last week when he bared his naked bottom at a mobile speed camera van in Kidderminster, Worcestershire."

There obviously isn't any crime in Kidderminster when the police can spare six cops to assault him. Hope he sues them.
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The poor fellow was only trying to dislodge a bottle of Lea & Perrins.

Lea & Perrins.jpg
 
Shero said:
There is more to the story: the police arrived at the man's house and asked him to open the door so they can speak to him. He repeatedly refused. The police then kicked in his garden gate and the man resisted arrest.
The story is not being reported correctly on this thread.
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All because he "mooned" a camera. Alas! Civilization is doomed to total destruction from whence there is no return! :eek:
 
JimBob1952 said:
That is one of the lamest bucket list items I've ever heard of.
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When you've only got days to live let us know what's on your list of "un" lames. On my list will be a couple of women who deserve to be punched but I was too much of a gentleman to do it earlier.
 
Della said:
How were the police supposed to know he was terminally ill? They also don't know ahead of time exactly how many other police are going to go to a call. I'm sure if someone was being mugged at exactly the same time and they got that call on their radio they would have gone to that.
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I agree. They cannot read minds. And who in the world wants to see his behind? If it was against the law then he got his wish and now must pay for it. Theres more to the story but he did what he wanted so he should be satisfied and face the music.
 
There seems to be something missing from this story. I don't think mooning a traffic camera is a major felony. At best, it rates a summons, and a fine. Why the six cops? And it's your dying wish to moon a traffic camera? There's more myth than truth in this story.
I keep reading this story over , and over. There's a big disconnect. Why do six cops come to arrest a old geezer, who just mooned a speed camera.?
 
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Aunt Bea said:
I agree that it’s not a big deal.

I believe that something else prompted the response from the police.

Perhaps the man was non compliant when approached by the police.
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Found several articles and the video his wife took He at first refused to open the door to them. They apparently forced it. Not sure what most reliable news source in UK is. (In USA i i know which ones need rigorous fact checking) but most all the stories referenced the man being 'terminally ill'. So i guess the problem with headlines (Make as sensational as possible and who cares if misleading) is not just an American thing.

But i have questions:
Do British police routinely go out to physically arrest people for such an offense? Tho since this was in a parking lot public indecency might be the charge (at least here). The non-compliance thing---were there 6 officers originally? Or was back up called when he refused them entry?
Edit, one more question: Can't find if he was in the wheelchair he sometimes uses when they grabbed him or if he had stood up. While article below mentions that he uses a wheelchair they weren't clear on that point. And to me it makes a slight difference about what force they should have used.
Also note, they did allow him to sit up after he explained the face down restraint could kill him quicker than he's going already.

@Capt Lightning If you see a follow up about his journey thru UK justice system, can you post it for us. i'll keeping my eye out, but our UK members more likely to see before we do. i'm curious how the case will proceed.

https://worldnewsera.com/news/uk/te...d-by-six-officers-after-mooning-speed-camera/
 
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Non-compliance with the police will get you roughed up. If people didn't know that before George Floyd, they should know it by now.

The police are required to go where the dispatcher sends them, they don't get to sit in their car and say, "Nah, that doesn't sound important enough to me," and go on eating their sandwich. They also don't get to throw up their hands and say, "Well it's not that big a deal," and go back to their squad car if the person refuses to comply.

After reading Feywon's link I'm beginning to think Darrell's getting his greatest wish, which is to have lots of attention and hundreds of people feeling sorry for him. Long before his illness he had problems with the "speed cameras" for catching him when he was just going a little bit over the speed limit.
 
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Aunt Bea said:
It sounds like there may be more to this story. :unsure:

I'm a diabetic how many laws should I be allowed to break?
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There have been a few cases here of diabetics who were not careful about meds or diet who were slipping into 'sugar shock' while driving. Sometimes not coherent enough by time stopped for driving erratically to explain on the scene and some of those incidents have gone very badly. But they usually get a pass from the courts the first time if can verify it, tho usually with a warning that a second incident might jeopardize their license to drive, same way people with certain seizure disorders and narcolepsy are expected to surrender licenses.
 
Much ado about nothing. He bared his ass in front of a speed trap. Oh! How awful! He didn't flash his family jewels to shock toddlers during an outing to the park or in front of the nearest primary school. On the other hand, at least he did something. They've got Julian Assange locked up for 10 years for doing nothing.
 
As usual, the story doesn’t tell all the facts. When he bared his butt, who was around? If it was a family setting, he was an a$$.
 

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