Terminally ill man who mooned speed cam for ‘bucket list’ cleared by magistrates
Darrell Meekcom, the terminally-ill retired university lecturer who was arrested after mooning a speed camera as part of his bucket list, has been cleared of a public order offence at Redditch Magistrates Court.
Darrell, 55, attended Worcester Magistrates' Court wearing a t-shirt with a print of a mooning Bart Simpson.
Originally arrested on charges of indecent exposure and dangerous driving, he faced a charge of obstructing a police officer in the execution of their duty.
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Darrell, who suffers from multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's as well as heart and kidney problems, was cleared by magistrates yesterday. He described the prosecution as a "waste of public money".
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Darrell was “not guilty of resisting arrest,” said the magistrates, who accepted that his “defence of self-protection has been accepted”.
Speaking afterwards, he spoke of his relief at being cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. He said: “I’m extremely pleased. The truth, like oil, comes to the surface.
“You don’t go to those extremes. The magistrates summed it up perfectly.”
He said that he was "bullied" by police officers after they turned up at his house to arrest him for dropping his trousers in front of a speed camera.
Mobile phone footage filmed by Darrell’s wife Sarah shows him telling the arresting officers: “I’m terminally ill, I won’t be able to breathe like this.
“This is ridiculous – I mooned a speed camera. I mooned a speed camera.”
He later said that he was left “gobsmacked” at the “heavy-handed” response and accused West Mercia Police of “outrageous bullying”.
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Prosecutor Sarah Hurd had told the court that Darrell had been uncooperative and abusive when officers tried to arrest him. While it was it was only a “short piece of obstruction,” body camera evidence showed that he shouted at police and didn’t let them “get a grip properly to allow them to apply handcuffs”.
After clearing Darrell, chair of the bench Justice Charles Townsend said: “We note that at no point during the hour-long-plus incident did you cooperate with, or inform the police of any health issues until you were taken to ground.
“We feel the police acted quite lawfully on Friday 5 November by arresting you.
“However, given the serious health conditions you are faced with, clenching your hands in the way that you did was justified, given the potential consequences of your hands being placed behind your back.
“Therefore we find you not guilty of resisting arrest and that your defence of self-protection has been accepted.”
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