“An IT consultant was arrested by police in Britain after he posted a picture online of himself posing with a gun in the US.
Jon Richelieu-Booth said he was shocked by the “Orwellian” decision by West Yorkshire Police (WYP) to prosecute him over the social media post.
The 50-year-old said that on Aug 13 he had posted a picture of himself on LinkedIn holding a shotgun while on a private homestead with friends during a holiday in Florida.
Mr Richelieu-Booth claims the LinkedIn message contained nothing he considered threatening, with the picture attached to a lengthy post about his day and work activities.
However, he said that a police officer later visited his home to warn him that concerns had been raised about the post.
“I was told to be careful what I say online and I need to understand how it makes people feel,” he said.
Mr Richelieu-Booth said he offered to provide officers with proof that the picture of the firearm had been taken while he was in the US but the officers said that was not necessary.
Mr Richelieu-Booth said two officers then returned to his home shortly after 10pm on Aug 24 and arrested him.
A bail document seen by The Telegraph refers to an allegation of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and a further allegation of stalking related to a photograph of a house that appeared on his social media.”
Bonkers
Psychological-Plum10 on
What a complete waste of time and money, this is getting out of hand.
dpr60 on
Now that sounds like he could be using coded messages to threaten someone he’s allegedly stalking. Let the police sort it, if they arrested him they’re obviously taking it seriously
better_than_ant on
There must be more to this than the article let’s on. For starters it’s perfectly legal to use a shotgun in Britain even without a shotgun certificate. And last time I checked, it’s not illegal to have a photo of one either
CameramanNick on
Christ on a bike, there’s pictures of me with guns (I work in the film industry). Airsofters constantly post video of themselves. Plod has found a way to keep himself infinitely busy if he feels like it.
The word “after” can be weasel, here, inasmuch as he was also arrested *after* eating breakfast, *after* taking a shower, and *after* putting a shirt on. Reading between the lines, it seems that this was a case of the police finding a reason to be annoyed with this guy and cooking up some pretence to “get” him.
That’s pretty alarming.
jasterbobmereel on
The police see someone who is harassing and stalking someone post a picture with a gun, is the actual story
BtchsLoveDub on
Is The Telegraph considered a legitimate source for any “news” stories?
High-Tom-Titty on
There has to be more to it. Before quitting FB I had loads of pics of me with various firearms after spending far too much in Vegas shooting them. Seems the police kept arresting and dropping charges which sounds like a bit of a fishing exercise.
spicypixel on
Needs to lean into it a bit more, that stance isn’t super steady for recoil management.
SpottedDicknCustard on
Half a story deliberately published to whip up a frenzy amongst the muh freeze peach crowd.
State of our rancid media ecosystem.
jodrellbank_pants on
All charges have been dropped, there is nothing there that states he been previously convinced of stalking.
Only a line in an article saying the police think it’s relating to stalking. There is no mention of an actual previous case.
LoI only see assumptions being made from a headline which is just as bad as being guilty without any proof.
We don’t know anything about the post of the house.
He might have been shaking someone’s hand Infront of it the person owning the house might not have wanted his house showing in Facebook and told him to take the post down, we just don’t know.
We don’t even know if the person owning the house has a complaint or it’s made up. Like most of the stuff on here.
This will be a very simple case of wrongful arrest, if he’s done nothing wrong, will be at least 20k in his pocket.
PaleConference406 on
Hmm…whining to the Telegraph, stalking allegations, holding a gun while being scared of it and posting such pics on Linkedin, of all places. Certainly seems a bit of wrong’un.
AnalThermometer on
Some assume there’s more to this, but it doesn’t read like it to me. It’s just potluck whether somebody decides to report you. You can be charged for causing alarm or distress for doing practically anything in the UK, including posing with a gun. The state seems to have then dropped it, perhaps before another 20k payout as with the parents arrested recently.
GhostCanyon on
I’d just like to know what the original context on LinkedIn was “blasting the shit out of things with this shotgun has taught me all kinds of things about B2B sales”
Old_Man_Robot on
Screams of outrage bait to a story with greater context.
“Further allegations of stalking” is the big clue here.
15 commenti
“An IT consultant was arrested by police in Britain after he posted a picture online of himself posing with a gun in the US.
Jon Richelieu-Booth said he was shocked by the “Orwellian” decision by West Yorkshire Police (WYP) to prosecute him over the social media post.
The 50-year-old said that on Aug 13 he had posted a picture of himself on LinkedIn holding a shotgun while on a private homestead with friends during a holiday in Florida.
Mr Richelieu-Booth claims the LinkedIn message contained nothing he considered threatening, with the picture attached to a lengthy post about his day and work activities.
However, he said that a police officer later visited his home to warn him that concerns had been raised about the post.
“I was told to be careful what I say online and I need to understand how it makes people feel,” he said.
Mr Richelieu-Booth said he offered to provide officers with proof that the picture of the firearm had been taken while he was in the US but the officers said that was not necessary.
Mr Richelieu-Booth said two officers then returned to his home shortly after 10pm on Aug 24 and arrested him.
A bail document seen by The Telegraph refers to an allegation of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and a further allegation of stalking related to a photograph of a house that appeared on his social media.”
Bonkers
What a complete waste of time and money, this is getting out of hand.
Now that sounds like he could be using coded messages to threaten someone he’s allegedly stalking. Let the police sort it, if they arrested him they’re obviously taking it seriously
There must be more to this than the article let’s on. For starters it’s perfectly legal to use a shotgun in Britain even without a shotgun certificate. And last time I checked, it’s not illegal to have a photo of one either
Christ on a bike, there’s pictures of me with guns (I work in the film industry). Airsofters constantly post video of themselves. Plod has found a way to keep himself infinitely busy if he feels like it.
The word “after” can be weasel, here, inasmuch as he was also arrested *after* eating breakfast, *after* taking a shower, and *after* putting a shirt on. Reading between the lines, it seems that this was a case of the police finding a reason to be annoyed with this guy and cooking up some pretence to “get” him.
That’s pretty alarming.
The police see someone who is harassing and stalking someone post a picture with a gun, is the actual story
Is The Telegraph considered a legitimate source for any “news” stories?
There has to be more to it. Before quitting FB I had loads of pics of me with various firearms after spending far too much in Vegas shooting them. Seems the police kept arresting and dropping charges which sounds like a bit of a fishing exercise.
Needs to lean into it a bit more, that stance isn’t super steady for recoil management.
Half a story deliberately published to whip up a frenzy amongst the muh freeze peach crowd.
State of our rancid media ecosystem.
All charges have been dropped, there is nothing there that states he been previously convinced of stalking.
Only a line in an article saying the police think it’s relating to stalking. There is no mention of an actual previous case.
LoI only see assumptions being made from a headline which is just as bad as being guilty without any proof.
We don’t know anything about the post of the house.
He might have been shaking someone’s hand Infront of it the person owning the house might not have wanted his house showing in Facebook and told him to take the post down, we just don’t know.
We don’t even know if the person owning the house has a complaint or it’s made up. Like most of the stuff on here.
This will be a very simple case of wrongful arrest, if he’s done nothing wrong, will be at least 20k in his pocket.
Hmm…whining to the Telegraph, stalking allegations, holding a gun while being scared of it and posting such pics on Linkedin, of all places. Certainly seems a bit of wrong’un.
Some assume there’s more to this, but it doesn’t read like it to me. It’s just potluck whether somebody decides to report you. You can be charged for causing alarm or distress for doing practically anything in the UK, including posing with a gun. The state seems to have then dropped it, perhaps before another 20k payout as with the parents arrested recently.
I’d just like to know what the original context on LinkedIn was “blasting the shit out of things with this shotgun has taught me all kinds of things about B2B sales”
Screams of outrage bait to a story with greater context.
“Further allegations of stalking” is the big clue here.