PORTSMOUTH NEWS

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/Quizzed-over-terrorism-and-all.4332791.jp

Quizzed over terrorism... and all for taking this photograph

Published Date: 29 July 2008
By Chris Owen Chief reporter

A man was labelled a terrorist after he took a picture of a police car
parked at a bus stop.

David Gates found himself being questioned under the Terrorism Act after he
spotted the BMW in the middle of the box reserved for buses, and decided to
capture the image on his phone - apparently falling foul of the anti-terror
law in the process.

Mr Gates was then questioned by two officers who asked why he had snapped
the picture of their vehicle, and they told him he was being quizzed under
the Terrorism Act 2000 because the picture could pose a security risk.

They also said this law gave them the right to use stop-and-search powers.

Mr Gates, 42, saw the car in New Road, Copnor, Portsmouth, while the
officers were knocking at a door.

He said: 'I explained I'd taken the picture as their car was parked
illegally, and taking a photograph in public was not illegal.

'I told them I thought using the Terrorism Act and suspecting me of being a
terrorist was ridiculous.'

Mr Gates, an account manager, of St Andrew's Road, Southsea, said he
co-operated with the officers and gave his details, which were checked. He
was told the record of the incident would be kept on file for a year.

Mike Hancock, the Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South, said: 'The whole thing
is quite bizarre. I don't have a problem with them parking at the bus stop,
but I do have a problem with them using this legislation for something
trivial like this and keeping it for a year.

'If this was used in Portsmouth 50 times in a year, the statistics would
make the city look like a hotbed of terrorism.'

Superintendent Neil Sherrington, the deputy commander for Portsmouth
police, said: 'Officers are given powers under the Terrorism Act to stop
and search.

'The act states that "this power can only be used for the purposes of
searching for articles of a kind which could be used in connection with
terrorism, and may be exercised whether or not the constable has grounds
for suspecting the presence of articles of that kind".'

He added: 'It is therefore reasonable for the officer in this case to have
made reference to the act and been suspicious about why the photograph of
the vehicle had been taken.'

He said the officers were dealing with a domestic incident in New Road, and
could find nowhere else to park.