From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is incredible:
A man who was mistakenly arrested and charged with possessing a firearm
which turned out to be a cordless drill has been awarded compensation.
Mel Sealy, 50, was paid an undisclosed sum in an out-of-court settlement
after he successfully sued North Wales Police for wrongful arrest and
imprisonment. The former police officer from Barbados was held in
custody for 10 days after he was arrested in 1998.
He was charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
"I feel that at long last I have been vindicated," he said.
Mr Sealy's ordeal began when he realised he did not have the right drill
bit to put up shelves at his home in Prince of Wales Avenue, Flint.
He popped up the road with the cordless drill to see a friend.
But as he was walking back home someone reported that they had seen a
man walk down the street with a sawn-off shotgun. After returning home,
Mr Sealy then heard a loud-hailer call his name and saw armed police had
surrounded his home. There were police everywhere. I could have been
shot. He was ordered out of the house, told to lie on the ground,
searched, handcuffed and arrested.
Officers then searched his home but did not find a weapon.
"They even looked inside my televisions and my videos," explained Mr
Sealy, a DIY enthusiast. Later, the prosecution offered no evidence
against him.
North Wales Police said at the time that they had received more than one
report that a man was walking down the street with a firearm. They had
responded accordingly for they could not take any chances where guns
were reported to be involved.
Mr Sealy said he believed the cause of the trouble was
"mischief-making". "Someone had it in for me and called the police."
"After way I was treated I have now been vindicated. The money is not
important. There was a principle here. " "There were police everywhere.
I could have been shot," he explained.
"It was all over a drill. They even seized that. I've since had it back,
but it has never worked since."
Mr Sealy is now taking a second action against the police following a
similar raid at his home three weeks after the first. Again Mr Sealy
was ordered out together with his son at gunpoint.
His son has since received an out-out-court settlement and Mr Sealy has
taken civil action against the police. "I had an argument with someone
and the next thing armed police were at my door again," he said.
"I am West Indian...and because of my appearance they have type-cast me
as a criminal." No charges ever arose from that incident.
A spokeswoman for North Wales Police said that with a second action
still pending it would be inappropriate to make any comment at this
stage.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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