Yahoo News Photographer wrestled to the floor and arrested for doing his job has had nightmares
A press photographer has described the six-month ordeal he suffered after being 'manhandled' by a police officer, arrested and charged for doing his job, reporting from a crime scene.
Dimitris Legakis said he was wrestled to the ground, accused of obstructing an emergency worker and assaulting a police officer and arrested as he tried to capture photographs of a car fire on Sketty Lane in Swansea where, it would later emerge, killer husband David Clarke has murdered his wife Helen Clarke by hitting her with a hammer, dousing her in petrol and setting her alight.
The experienced and respected photographer, who is a member of the British Press Photographers’ Association was thrown in a police van, held for 15 hours and charged with assaulting a police officer. His camera, lenses, drone and memory cards were all seized and kept for two months.
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The prosecution was dropped on Monday, the day before the trial was due to start on April 9, and the court heard there was no evidence of assault on the police bodycamera recording and prosecution barrister Alycia Carpanini said that the original statement taken from the police officer "does not coincide" with what he later said in his victim personal statement.
Judge Geraint Walters said the prosecution was "disturbing" and raised serious questions. He said that his reading of the prosecution papers was that a police officer took offence to a photographer taking pictures.
Mr Legakis said had been forced to spend £4,500 on new camera equipment in order to continue working while his kit remained confiscated by South Wales Police and that he had suffered nightmares.
He said: “I was having nightmares. My mental health suffering has gone through the roof in recent weeks. When I heard they wouldn’t present any evidence it was too little too late.”
He described the sequence of events on the day he was arrested in September last year, saying he'd had a tip off from a friend of a car on fire at Sketty Lane. “I couldn’t drive there so I went on my bike through Singleton Park. Secured by bike against the pole," he said.
“I could see the cordon and the emergency services behind it. It was around a cluster of trees. Radius was about 15-20 metres. People were walking up and down the path and people standing at the cordon watching.
“I took my camera out of my rucksack. A woman started coming after me, calling me a horrible man and I tried to keep away from her. She is quickly joined by a younger man and another man.”
In a video seen by WalesOnline, Mr Legakis can be heard telling people to leave him alone while they shout abuse at him.
“I was moving backwards trying to avoid them. All I am saying is ‘go away’. The third person came so close to me shouting in my face I could feel his spit. I was being pushed and they had their hands on my camera. I was sworn at. The aggression is obvious.
“The video stops when a PC comes along. He starts handing me quite violently. The first thing he does is grab me with both hands by my coat and start pushing me back.
“From that time I am extremely upset after being assaulted by people, and a police officer victimising me like I have done something wrong.
“At the same time there are people going about their business. From the officer's bodycam footage I could see eight people walking up and down the path. This is important because I was supposedly breaching the cordon. If I was, so was everybody else. That cordon was fictional or imaginary, call it what you like. There was no cordon there.”
He then tried to leave the situation. “At some point during the argument I said “I am going to leave, just let me get my stuff,” he said. “He was pushing me so hard, on soft ground and I was worried that if I fell over I would hurt myself because I had a lot of my gear in my rucksack on my back. So I left the rucksack of my gear on the grass. He kept pushing me away from it.
“I said ‘I will go let me get my stuff’. As I went past him I brushed him and because I touched him he wrestled me to the ground and arrested me. Not just him, but two other officers as well.
“He arrested me for breach of the peace, a public order office and locked me in the van. You can then see from his body cam that he speaks to another sergeant.
“That sergeant can be heard to say ‘if he has touched you, it’s assault’. The officer who arrested me can be heard to say that ‘it's not worth it’ and then he instantly changes mind. He opens the van and says “you are further charged with obstructing a police officer and assault”.
However it is clear from the CPS decision that the testimony of the arresting officer was inconsistent and the body cam footage from the officer didn’t record the alleged assault.
Photographers are allowed to take pictures of crime scenes providing they are on public property and stay outside any police cordon.
Mr Legakis said: “My equipment was seized as well. When I was released my gear had gone to the serious crime unit to find evidence of the crime involving the car fire. That isn’t allowed because it is journalistic material. You would have thought that I would get it back soon but they kept it for two months.
“In my mind it was retaliatory. Why did they have to keep the camera, lenses and a drone instead of just the three memory cards?
“I had to buy gear which cost about £4,500 so I could keep working. If I hadn’t bought the gear I would have lost about £7,500 in work. This is my livelihood. It limits my ability to do my job.”
Following the Sketty Lane altercation, Mr Legakis reported to South Wales Police that he had been assaulted by four people at the scene, but in March this year - six months after the incident - the force's professional standards unit wrote to him to confirm allegations had not been investigated, and the issue would be raised with a chief inspector in Swansea.
“I feel extremely let down that there was a crime against me. I can understand the confusion on the day meaning they didn’t investigate the assault against me but I reported it the next day and six months after they have done absolutely nothing about it. Not even acknowledged it.
“I think it is a race thing as well. I think a Greek person refusing to move and saying they are doing nothing wrong was antagonising them. They are like ‘we are not going to have someone from another country telling us what to do’. That adds to their aggression. They can tell from my accent I am Greek.
"They haven’t apologised. I would absolutely want one. The copper, I don’t think he should be a police officer. For me, I think he needs to be removed.”
WalesOnline approached South Wales Police about Mr Legakis’ accusations. They did not address them directly but said that complaints were “under investigation”.
A spokesman said: “On Friday September 22 last year, emergency services were called to the scene of a car fire in Sketty Lane, Swansea. Helen Clarke, aged 77, subsequently died after she had been attacked with a hammer, doused in petrol and set alight. 80-year-old David Clarke was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.
“After arriving at the scene, officers were setting up a crime scene cordon when a 47-year-old man was arrested. He was charged with assaulting an emergency worker, a public order offence and obstructing a police constable in the execution of their duty.
“We note the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to offer any evidence in this case. A number of complaints made against South Wales Police are currently under investigation.”
