I'm amazed - and amused - by a report that British police have so far spent £170,000 (about US $237,500) on 22 separate attempts to prosecute a stripper for impersonating a police officer . . . and lost every case.
Stuart Kennedy, who performs under the stage name of Sergeant Eros, was last week cleared in court for the 22nd time.
The case collapsed after the Crown Office dropped the charges against him.
In the latest incident as part of an extraordinary two-year spat with police, Mr Kennedy was arrested while driving home from Aberdeen's Tiger Tiger club dressed in full uniform.
He said he had been forced to flee the nightspot fully clothed after being threatened by an angry boyfriend.
Since March 2007, the 25-year-old genetics student from Aberdeen University has been arrested six times and spent 123 hours in custody, without police securing a single conviction.
Grampian Police have incurred the wrath of the public over the accumulated police, court and legal aid costs now mounting to an estimated £170,000.
Mr Kennedy first came under the nose of the constabulary when he was waiting outside a bar in Aberdeen dressed in his uniform.
He was spotted by two plain-clothes female officers who asked if he needed any help.
When Mr Kennedy said he was a stripper, the officers watched him perform his act with batons and a spray at the city's Paramount venue before taking him in for questioning.
He told officers he had ordered the batons and had purchased the CS holder from an internet site called the One Stop Cop Shop.
When asked at the time why he had the spray and the canister, Mr Kennedy replied that it was for defensive purposes, adding: 'Drunk guys get very jealous of male strippers.'
Two questions:
- Why do the courts in England not regard what he's wearing as impersonating a policeman? Is it because he takes them off? Would that be impersonating the upper or lower half of a policeman - or displaying a policeman's 'equipment'?
- After no less than 22 attempts to prosecute him, isn't it time the Grampian police saw the light and stopped wasting taxpayers' money?
At least he's not carrying a Taser. He uses a teaser instead!
Peter
Well, you've posted before how the legal system is messed up over there.
ReplyDeleteCould be he does a better job keeping the populous in line then the actually bobbies do...heh.
The female cops had him perform his routine for them including the baton(s)...hmmm...
Wonder if that is police or sexual harrassment or just him hoping they wouldn't take him in..cuffed...heeheh
Personally, I suspect it's more to do with the fact that he seems quite willing to make it clear to those who're mistaken that he's not a policeman.
ReplyDeletePlus, you can get similar outfits at costume shops, or in most stores around October. Which gives the courts another reason not to side against him - if they judge what he's wearing as being too close to a policeman, then they open the door for the Grampian police - not to mention the constabulary of other districts - to start pressing charges against Halloween partiers and kids being escorted by parents for trick-or-treating.
Sorry to get pedantic on you but Grampian Police operate in the North East of Scotland!
ReplyDeleteOur legal system is different and independent of the one used in England & Wales.