Parking row blind man gets arrested

Hampshire Chronicle

3:03am Friday 28th August 2009

A blind man has lodged an official complaint against police after he was arrested for threatening to take direct action over cars parked illegally on paths near his home.

Daniel Duckfield said he was held in a cell for three hours without his guide dog following the incident.

The 55-year-old from Narberth, west Wales, said his frustrations boiled over after five years of having to walk on the road around the cars.

He said, after repeatedly reporting the matter to police without any response, he decided to take the law into his own hands and let down the tyres on one of the offending cars.

After telling the police of his intentions in a phone call on August 17, Mr Duckfield said he was arrested more than 100 yards from the intended target such was the swift response of officers.

"I have been trying so hard to get all this sorted over a five-year period and they go and arrest me," said Mr Duckfield. "They treated me like a common criminal. They took photographs, swabbed my mouth and took my fingerprints.

"They shoved me in the cell for three hours where I had idiots either side of me kicking the doors and shouting. It was frightening.

"I'm totally blind and they wouldn't even let me take my dog with me. I had to leave the dog in the house. I have never been so shocked in my life."

Mr Duckfield said he had no choice but to accept a caution for threatening to cause criminal damage before his ordeal was brought to an end.

He now fears the incident will prevent him from carrying out visits to schools to show pupils his guide dog and attending a course at a blind school in Hereford later this year.