Pensioner arrested and locked in cell for shouting at yobs who threw stones at ducks

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A pensioner who ordered a gang of youths to stop throwing bricks at ducks on a canal was arrested and thrown into a cell by police.

When police officers knocked on his door Bill Marshall, 73, was expecting them to investigate his complaints about the unruly gang.

Instead the stunned great-grandfather was hauled off to a police cell accused of attacking the youths on the canal bank.

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Chesterfield Canal in Worksop where pensioner William Marshall, 73, was arrested by police after he tried to stop local yobs from throwing stones at the ducks

Yesterday the retired miner - who has a heart condition and diabetes - spoke of his shock and humiliation over the arrest.

He said : "I was shocked when a police officer turned up on my doorstep. I had made a number of complaints about anti-social behaviour from these yobs so I expected it was a response to that.

"I was quite happy to invite him in but then he said I was being arrested and taken to the station accused of assault. I thought it was a joke at first but then I realised he was perfectly serious.

"The officer ordered me to take the laces out my shoes as I was being arrested for common assault. I didn't know what to think."

Mr Marshall was driven to the police station and put into a cell before having to wait two hours for a duty solicitor.

He was interviewed by officers over the alleged assault before finally being released pending further inquiries.

But weeks after the incident police have now formally dropped any charges against the pensioner and apologised.

Mr Marshall's ordeal began shortly before Christmas when he spotted the group of teenage boys throwing bricks at ducks as he walked along the banks of the Chesterfield Canal.

He shouted at them to stop but received a barrage of abuse from the aggressive gang who continued to throw stones.

Mr Marshall of Shireoaks, near Worksop, Notts admitted shouting back at the group in anger but said he was nowhere near them and did not touch them.

However one youth reported the incident to police claiming the pensioner had struck him during the altercation.

He said: "One of the yobs said I had hit him and so they took his word against mine. I might have lost my temper and shouted at them but I did not hit anybody.

"I am a 73-year-old pensioner and they were a gang of youths. I wasn't going to try and take them on at my age."

"It took 73 years for an idiot to put me in jail. All I did was try to stop these louts throwing rocks at the ducks on the canal.

"I felt degraded spending time in that cell. I can't believe I ended up in jail at my age. I've never seen the inside of a cell before and I don't want to see it again. The police seemed to automatically assumed I was guilty instead of talking to me first."

Mr Marshall said the same gang had targetted him and his wife, Margaret, 72, at their home in recent months.

His case was taken up by local councillor, Ivor Jones, who thought Mr Marshall had been unfairly treated by police.

Now police have apologised to the pensioner but defended their actions claiming the officer did what he thought was right.

Chief Inspector Glenn Harper of Nottinghamshire Police said: "He was, however, young in service and with full sight of the circumstances, the officer can now appreciate the full consequences of the action taken, and therefore why I felt the need to intervene."

He said: "I apologise to Mr Marshall for the distress this experience has caused him and his family and I will ensure the necessary training needs are addressed."

Mr Harper confirmed that an inspector had since visited Mr Marshall at home to explain the case would not proceed to court. The boy who had accused the pensioner of common assault was also told the charge against Mr Marshall had been dropped.

 

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