Posted on 06/11/2008 3:46:47 PM PDT by LibWhacker
A man was handcuffed, arrested and dragged before a court after falling off the settee with laughter while watching Have I Got News For You.
Christopher Cocker, 36, was enjoying the BBC1 show when a joke made by panellist Paul Merton had him doubled up with laughter.
He collapsed on the floor - but the thud startled his downstairs neighbour who, believing he had collapsed, called police.
Officers arrived and said Cocker was initially co-operative but became 'aggressive' when they asked his name and tried to shut his front door.
He was eventually disabled with parva spray through the gap and arrested.
Jonathan Taylor, defending, said: 'The officer accepts in his statement that he struck my client and then sprayed him again.
'He was handcuffed and unceremoniously thrown into the back of a police van. When he ended up in a police cell he was asking himself how all this had happened.'
Mr Taylor told Blackburn Magistrates' Court, Lancs., said that having informed the police he was the only one in the flat and he was fine, his client could not understand why they wanted his details.
'With hindsight he should just have told the police what they wanted to know and they would have gone on their way,' said Mr Taylor.
Cocker, of Blackburn, Lancs., pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and was given a conditional discharge for six months following the incident on May 20.
A charge of assaulting PC Michael Davies was withdrawn.
Speaking after the hearing, Cocker said he had been in his flat minding his own business.
He said: 'I can't believe it - I was thrown in the back of a police van before being stripped naked and put in a cell.
'I was handcuffed behind my back and my ankles bound with plastic ties before six of them carried me to the van.
''It was something Paul Merton said and I remember falling of the settee, I didn't think it would end up in court.
'I hadn't had a drink or anything, I was just watching TV and all this happened. Paul Merton is one of my favourites. He's really funny.'
Prosecutor Alex Mann said the police went to ensure everything was all right and spoke to Cocker who was 'co-operative and relaxed' and he assured the officers everything was fine.
'He only became worked up when the police asked for his details,' said Mrs Mann.
'The police tried to explain they just needed the name for the report but he became aggressive and started swearing at the officer.'
After the hearing Joan Codling, 57, who lives in the flat below and made the call to police, said she contacted officers after being concerned that he may have fallen ill.
She said: 'I was worried in case he was having an epileptic fit. There was a lot of noise and I didn't know what to do so I called the police.'
A police spokesman said Cocker became 'aggressive' towards the officers who feared for their own safety.
The spokesman said: 'Parva spray was used to stop any confrontation and was necessary to protect the officers and any members of the public who were around at the time.
'Within the circumstances, we feel we used reasonable force.'
As a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, I would like to lodge a formal notice of protest against the British Government’s infringement upon San Francisco’s long, and dearly cherished status as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum”.
I adjure Parliament to at once cease and desist implementing any and every British Domestic Policy that may result in any degree of encroachment upon San Francisco’s rightfully held title.
Cheers,
— HKMk23
?
Fool.
You’re not obliged to give the Police anything. We are not obliged to carry ID, and if questioned and details are needed, we can choose to show our details to a station at a later date.
I would sue the coppers for breaching the peace, assault with a deadly weapon and interrupting a perfectly good show.
Our police are the worst in the Western World. Plastic coppers more concerned with PC boolsheet than actually stopping real crime. And how on earth did the coppers get scared that they would be done over by a bloke in his flat?! They were the ones banging on doors, illegally demanding personal details, and spraying the bloke with chemicals!!!!
And last but not least, the silly tart of a women who CALLED THE COPS instead of;
a. Doing nothing
b. Walking upstairs and knocking on the blokes door. “You alright mate?” was all it would have taken. To which the response might have been “Yeah, I am. Piss off, I’m watching TV”
Has common sense become obsolete?
Yeah, thats true. But then its not like all of us pay up is it???? If you just stay quiet, then they can’t do anything, as they have to invited into your home if they catch you. They have no right to simply ‘post’ a fine through the door. Easy.
Not me though, I’m a law abiding bloke... ;)
He said: 'I can't believe it - I was thrown in the back of a police van before being stripped naked and put in a cell.
'I was handcuffed behind my back and my ankles bound with plastic ties before six of them carried me to the van.
It appears that the UK's Big Brother is a step or two ahead of our Big Bro here in the states.
But the Brits shouldn't become over confident, we Yanks can't tolerate being second place at anything and I'm sure our Big Bro will catch up and pass theirs soon after Sheik Obama is sworn in on the Capitol steps.
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