TWO men and a youth claim they were held in a police cell for nearly SEVEN hours for stealing SEAWEED.
Tony Sims and business partner Simon Braisbury were returning to work after
a trip to the beach when officers pounced.
Mr Sims — and a 17-year-old — were handcuffed and all three were taken
to Eastbourne police station. There they spent the afternoon locked in the cells.
Officers also obtained a warrant to search the three-bedroom house, in Brodrick
Road, shared by Tony and his wife, Debra, and their brother-in-law Simon.
However, all three were later released without charge. They have since lodged
an official complaint against the police.
The incident happened at about 11am last Friday. Mr Braisbury said, 'We were
collecting sea kale for some tortoises that we are looking after at the moment.
'We had a few bags of weeds in the car and were driving back to work when we
were pulled over by a police motorcyclist.'
The motorcyclist was joined by two squad cars and the three were arrested.
They were taken back to Eastbourne police station and charged with theft. Mr
Braisbury told the Gazette that he saw the charge sheet for the boy read 'theft
of seaweed'.
They then returned home to find police had undertaken a search of their property.
Mr Sims and Mr Braisbury, who run a carpet and upholstery firm, claim they
were collecting the sea kale from an 'uncultivated' area to the east of the
Sovereign Centre.
Mr Braisbury said, 'There's a fenced-off nature reserve near where we picked
but there's nothing in there that is of use to us. We picked in a gravelled
area between the road and the seafront.'
He said that sea kale could be regarded as a form of seaweed and that it was
not a rare or protected species.
But Kate Cole, coastal expert for the county council, said, 'It is an offence
for any unauthorised person to intentionally uproot any wild plant.'
She said that the only people regarded as authorised to pick wild plants were
the owners or occupiers of the land, any person authorised by the landowner
or occupier or any person authorised in writing by the local authority for the
area.
She added that sea kale could not be described as seaweed and was scarce nationally.
A police spokesman confirmed the arrests had been made but said, 'Because a formal complaint has been lodged, we are not able to say anything further at this time.'
What next Arrested for Walking on the Beach ?, and it is not April 1st !