|
JULY 2007 - Please click here for the latest update If you have any further information, please get in touch via This man was arrested and taken into police custody on August 1st 2005 during a protest in Parliament Square, London (the two arresting officers wore badges number KF705 and KF90). No one present at that protest has reported seeing him or hearing from him since he was bundled into a police van and taken away. Police now claim to have no knowledge or record of this man, or of his arrest.
What happened to this man, and why is there no record of his arrest? Was he an agent provocateur acting in league with police? If so, then the public has a right to know. Did he belong to an organisation or have a connection that made him somehow immune from prosecution? If so, then the public has a right to know. Note - Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and Lauren Booth (Cherie Blair's sister) were both present at this same protest, but both managed to avoid arrest for some strange reason. Did he somehow escape from police custody in a manner so daring, exciting and/or entertaining that his story would make an excellent TV drama? If so, then commissioning editors have a right to know. Was he a foreign national already earmarked for deportation/rendition and/or wanted on other charges (and therefore handed over to another authority for processing)? Given the only other realistic alternatives, it would be in the interests of the police to make this known.
- LINKS Further links and information (including details of another missing person, a Sudanese woman of whom we have no photographic record): Full court report on socpa trial and mysterious side issues: Mysteriously, one of those arrested and put in a police van then disappeared from the record. police claim to have no knowledge of him. what was his 'get out' card? A socpa mystery - help with identification needed (includes main photos): Today in court, four of those arrestees appeared. The fifth, Ann Clancy, is unfortunately ill and police have agreed not to proceed with the case. During the course of today, in talking to those arrested, other witnesses, and watching police video footage of the afternoon, a mystery has emerged. Two more people were arrested and escorted to the waiting vans, but both these people have since completely disappeared from the record. After being driven off in the vans, they were clearly released without charge... One of them was a Sudanese woman, who spoke on the megaphone at times, and who was otherwise wearing a black gag across her mouth. She also wore a black and white headdress. I have no picture of her, but she was always near the megaphone and was clearly visible on police videos of the action. The other was the man pictured above, being arrested. Who is he? Does he have any affiliations that you know of? I think we should know! 'Rikki' says: The person in the photograph was personally witnessed by me being arrested and escorted to a police van - this has been corroborated by several other witnesses. I have asked the police this week, and they claim to have no knowledge of him. Further photos of arrests (including some of our mystery man) Further photos of arrests (including one of our mystery man) - UPDATES UPDATE (17 Jan 2006): For a while there we thought we had a possible match; Detective Sergeant John Pickersgill. Further investigation revealed that Det Sgt Pickersgill was currently attached to S012, the Special Branch Section at New Scotland Yard responsible for holding intelligence on extremist bodies. In other words, he was one of very few police with a (theoretically) valid reason to be out and about acting like an agitator. So I called him. I first made sure that I had the same John Pickersgill that appears in the photo linked above and displayed below. I then explained the situation and asked if was our missing man.
His response: "I can absolutely and categorically state that it wasn't me." So the search continues. - UPDATE (03 July 2007) - Two updates for one, folks! The Sudanese woman mentioned on this page arrived home on the same day, safe and well. The reason given for her disappearance is tremendously entertaining but must remain private. Something you'll have to take my word for... or not. As for our key missing protestor pictured above... well, again, you're just going to have to decide for yourselves - but this time I have more information to share: In May of 2007, a user going by the name of 'Moggy' posted a convincing photo to the relevant page at Indymedia, but posted an explanation that... well, just read it for yourself. I filed this one with a similar (but much longer) email that claimed our missing protestor was a roaming mercenary, master of disguise, and legendary lover of women. About a week later, I was contacted privately by an individual using the nickname 'Bunty' who was also able to produce some convincing photos (marked 'not for publication') that corresponded very closely to those of our missing protestor... and, rather problematically for his case, the photo provided by 'Moggy'. At the time he simply claimed not to have been arrested, but I asked for more information. The following account was provided by 'Bunty' in early July and corresponds to the account he posted at the Indymedia board (minus photos) in early June: "I am the man in the photo and I was not arrested on that day. I went to the protest on my own. I was dragged to the side of the square by the police. I was asked to provide my name and address (and mobile phone number - I wonder if anyone else has any experience of being asked for this?) The police asked if I knew that I was taking part in an illegal demonstration, I said no. They asked if I'd received one of the leaflets with a map showing the area covered by the new law, I said no. I asked them if they thought it was right that people were not allowed to speak outside the Houses of Parliament. The reply was that it wasn't their job to have an opinion on the law, just to enforce it. I was warned not to break the law again and allowed to go. (The comment by Moggy was a prank by a friend of mine.)" My thoughts on this account and the circumstances surrounding its delivery can be read here. Short version: I have my doubts, but it's my intention to revise the 'missing man' button for the benefit of existing users, remove the old one from this page, and file the rest under 'A' for 'archive'. - | |||||||
|
|
