"Danny Lake?s tale, in his own words.
I was leafleting Swindon College yesterday when a police car turned up. The officer walked over to me and asked that I stop leafleting as I was causing offence to (unspecified) people and it might result in me getting hurt!
Obviously I refused to comply and I informed Tony Blair?s storm trooper that I was there representing a legitimate political party and was not breaking any law.
The police officer then got on the phone and spent half an hour talking to someone about what, if anything, she could arrest me for. Eventually she came over to me and told me that I was under arrest on suspicion of a ?racially aggravate section 5 public order offence? which she was unable, or unwilling, to elaborate on.
She handcuffed me and put me in the back of a police car, just as two other police cars arrived! When I arrived at the police station I was being booked into custody at the same time as an immigrant who had ?kicked off? in the local DSS office!
Shortly after I arrived the arresting police officer asked if I wanted to make a phone call, but adding "do you mind waiting a bit as we have a load of illegals arriving in a bit"? To which I said I had no objection (amazing how they always seem to get priority over us Brits. isn?t it? ? Ed).
After a while they carried on processing me and I couldn?t help but laugh when one officer asked me ?what I considered my ethnic origin to be?!
Eventually, after taking my finger and palm prints, and a DNA swab I was put in a cell for about seven hours!
During that time my solicitor arrived and after walking into the interview room with him, he slammed one of my leaflets down on the table and said that he had looked at the leaflet in question, as well as the arresting police officer?s statement, and concluded that I hadn?t committed any crime! He said, ?to be frank, it appears as if we are turning into a police state and that the police have overstepped their powers?.
He advised me that he didn?t want to let them interview me, as they would ?try to twist what I said in order to get me to admit to something I had not done?. However I did agree to an interview, just to allow me to give the following statement.
Danny?s statement to police.
The following is Danny?s statement to police in full.
?My name is Daniel Mark Lake and I was born on the 5th April 1985.
I was arrested today at 13:54, on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.
I would like to state that I attended Swindon college today (23/11/2005) with the intention of handing out British National Party literature.
I have been accused of using language likely to incite racial hatred and cause alarm or distress. I would like to say that at no point did I use any racial language or phrases.
I am not a racist and I believe my arrest to be politically motivated, so for that reason I will answer all further questions with the words ?no comment" ".