Pericles Antoniou was a tourist from Athens on holiday in London with his wife and 14 year old son, and the first I heard about his him was on the British Journal of Photography web site. Antoniou is a keen photographer and started taking some pictures on the tube around 11.30am on Thursday 17 April, 2009. A woman complained after he took pictures of her young daughter, and he apologised to her, showed her the pictures and deleted them as a courtesy to her.
At the next station, the father of the girl called the police, who arrested Antoniou, locking him up and keeping him in a cell in solitary overnight. They did not allow him to communicate with his family or anyone, and he does not appear to have been given any access to a solicitor. On Friday morning he was brought to the magistrates court, and accused under the Public Order Act 1986 of public harassment that might have caused fear and stress to the people around him.
The relevant section of the Act appears to be section 5:
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he:
- (a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or
- (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,
within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.
And one of the statutory defences is:
(3) The conduct was reasonable.
And certainly I would hold that taking photographs is a reasonable act. An offence under this section would carry a maximum fine of £1000.
Antoniou pleaded not guilty, and the case was adjourned. The police have kept his camera.
As he says in his letter to the Greek Ambassador (as translated on Facebook where a support group has been set up) :
“It is inconceivable for one to think, in the country where Bill Brandt, Martin Parr, Killip were born and their works are based on street photography, that I had to be humiliated and accused of taking photos (!!!) while being in the Metro subway. It is noted that in the National Portrait Gallery there is a photo exhibition currently which is about photos taken of people in streets!!!” (sic)
Mr Antoniou appears to me to have been wrongfully arrested and to have been denied his legal rights by the police, and unless the case is thrown out when he appears in court again on May 18 it would set a very worrying precedent threatening the whole future of photography in public in the UK.
I’d also hope that he will be able to make a considerable claim against the police for wrongful arrest.