CPS offers no evidence in “disturbing” arrest and prosecution of photojournalist.

Dimitris LegakisDimitris Legakis

CPS offers no evidence in “disturbing” arrest and prosecution of photojournalist.

 

A judge has described the prosecution of Dimitris Legakis, a member of the BPPA, as “disturbing” and that it “raised serious questions” after the CPS offered no evidence in a case that they brought against him

Wales Online quotes Judge Walters, sitting at Swansea Crown Court, as saying “the crown now recognises that which was the situation at the start, namely that “there was no evidential basis” to charge the defendant. He called the case “disturbing”, said it “raised serious questions”, and said “something has very seriously gone wrong”.

On 22nd September 2023, Dimitris was arrested and held in a police cell for 15 hours. He had been reporting on a serious incident from a public space at the time. Legakis also informed police that he was assaulted by four people at the scene, an allegation that South Wales Police are yet to investigate.

During a search in custody, police were shown Dimitris’ UK Press Card, which identified him as a bone fide news gatherer. Despite that, South Wales Police held his camera equipment for a further two months, in breach of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).

He was initially charged with assaulting an emergency worker, obstructing or resisting a police officer and a public order offence of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour. The public order charge was dropped at an early stage and Legakis was found not guilty of the other two charges at trial, after the CPS offered no evidence.

This is yet another instance of police in England and Wales arresting a British photojournalist who was working legally and in a public space. Similar incidents involving BPPA members Tom Bowles, Peter MacDiarmid and Ben Cawthra have already prompted widespread condemnation.

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