Terminally ill man arrested by six officers after ‘mooning’ speed camera
'It is something I had always wanted to do...'
A terminally-ill man who ‘moonied a speed camera’ because it was on his bucket list was later arrested by six police officers in his back garden.
When Darrell Meekcom, 55, was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy last month he decided to draw up a list of goals to achieve before he dies.
Among other things, the retired lecturer – who also has Parkinson’s Disease and kidney problems – wanted to ‘moonie a speed camera’.
On Friday, November 5, an opportunity to achieve this presented itself.
When his wife popped into Tesco in Kidderminster to buy some bread, Darrell got out of the car and bared his bum to a mobile speed camera van.
He thought nothing of the act but just 20-minutes after he returned home police arrived demanding to be let in.
When he refused, officers raided his home before wrestling him to the ground in his garden and putting him in handcuffs. Darrell’s wife Sarah, 36, filmed the arrest on her phone.
In the footage, Darrell can be heard saying ‘I’m terminally ill, I won’t be able to breathe like this.
‘This is ridiculous – I moonied a speed camera. I moonied a speed camera.’
One female officer can be heard replying: ‘Well that is a significant statement that you have just made to us.’
Darrell says: ‘I’m quite happy to say that because it was one off my bucket list.
‘I’ve just been diagnosed with multiple system atrophy. I’m terminally ill, I’ve got a very short time to live and it was one off my bucket list.
‘Have you never wanted to moonie a speed camera? Well I did.’
Darrell, who lives in Kidderminster and uses a wheelchair, said he was ‘simply gobsmacked’ that he had been arrested.
‘It is something I had always wanted to do because I’d been caught by them a couple of times for silly speeds like 35mph in a 30 zone and it always bugged me’, he said.
‘When I was given the diagnosis last month my wife suggested drawing up a bucket list and that was one of the items on there that I’ve now crossed off at some price.’
Darrell added that when police turned up at his address he was ‘too scared to go out’.
He said: ‘They grabbed my hands and I’m saying “I’m not resisting, I’m giving myself up”.
‘There were six of them restraining me trying to get their arms up my back.
‘All this for mooning a speed camera. My release from custody notice also says dangerous driving which is also ridiculous.
‘I drove off when the speed camera van started taking my details but I assure you there was nothing dangerous about it. It’s honestly all just baffling.’
Darrell, who has two girls aged 10 and 8, said his vision was blurred and he suffered two seizures when he was released from custody.
He later went to hospital due to fears he suffered a bleed to the brain.
Darrell, who used to lecture medical students at Birmingham City University, added: ‘I feel like I have been abused. It was outrageous bullying.
‘Even when I calmly explained the situation they carried on restraining me and cuffing me from behind.
‘They did not even provide care for me when I was in custody despite my various conditions and suffering a blow to the head.
‘I did not resist arrest once and I felt the response was completely disproportionate in the circumstances.
‘I feel it was an abuse of police power and privilege.’
Darrell – who also has a bungee jump and parachuting on his bucket list – says he has reported the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
In a statement, West Mercia Police said: ‘Around 1pm on Friday 5 November officers received a report of indecent exposure on Stourbridge Road, Kidderminster.
‘Officers attended and after a search of the area, located a person of interest in Coiey Close.
‘A 55-year-old man from Kidderminster was arrested on suspicion of public order offences and dangerous driving and released on bail.’
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