Terminally ill man who was huckled to the ground by police after mooning speed camera cleared in court
03.08.2022 - 15:59
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A terminally-ill retired university lecturer who was arrested after mooning a speed camera as part of his bucket list, has been cleared in court of a public order offence. Darrell Meekcom, 55, was detained in his back garden by several cops after he bared his backside at a mobile speed camera van last November.
The dad-of-two, who has multiple system atrophy (MSA), was originally arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and dangerous driving, but went on trial accused of obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty. Two further counts of using threatening behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress were dropped by prosecutors.
He was cleared by magistrates on Tuesday, August 2, who found him “not guilty of resisting arrest” and that that his “defence of self-protection has been accepted”. Police also confirmed a complaint had been received and would now be referred to their professional standards department, report Mirror Online.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Meekcom, from Kidderminster, spoke of his relief at being cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. He said: “I’m extremely pleased. The truth, like oil, comes to the surface.
“You don’t go to those extremes. The magistrates summed it up perfectly.” Mr Meekcom, who lives with wife Sarah, 36, and their two daughters, previously explained how he was left stunned when cops turned up outside their home.
He had dropped his trousers at a mobile speed camera van on Stourbridge Road in Kidderminster, while his wife went to buy some bread from a nearby Tesco Express. Mobile phone footage filmed by Sarah, a nurse, shows him telling officers: “I’m terminally ill, I won’t be able to breathe like this.
“This is ridiculous – I mooned a speed camera. I mooned a speed