It was "a security issue, not a free speech issue"

Friday 03 January 2020

More details have been released about the decision to deploy a police officer to speak with a member of the public who has previously used Twitter to criticise security measures at Guernsey Airport.

Businessman David Piesing has been a vocal critic of the processes adopted at the airport, which are run by G4S on behalf of the States of Guernsey.

He regularly uses his personal Twitter account to criticise what he describes as long wait times and inefficient security practices. He was one of the first people to point out that the changes made last year were causing huge queues and he has continued to tweet about his experiences regularly since then.

Yesterday, while travelling from Guernsey to London, he found himself confronted by a plain clothed police officer, who asked to speak to him in a private room. 

Well, @GuernseyAirport security have really dug a deep hole now. It went swimmingly this morning, the quickest ever and I was going to post that. Until...I was targeted by PC71 who took me into a private room and warned me about my criticism of the airport security on Twitter!

— David Piesing (@DavidPiesing63) January 2, 2020

"I sailed through airport security at 09:30 this morning - the airport was very quiet and the security process was exceptionally good, no issues at all. I gathered my bag and then a plain clothes PC71 identifies himself and asked me my name. I told him and he asked me to go to a private room as he wanted a word with me," Mr Piesing told Express.

"He said that it was nothing to worry about but he was advising me to be very careful regarding my public criticism of the airport security service on social media. I interrupted him and pointed out that any complaints were entirely a civil matter and nothing to do with the police. He said that wouldn’t be the case if they were 'abusive or threatening or overstepped the mark'. I assured him that they hadn’t been, and that I was well aware of what is and is not acceptable on social media. 

"I told him that I wasn’t interested in his meaningless 'advice' and that I 'didn’t give a sh*t that somebody seemed upset about being criticised if and when the service was appropriate to criticise', and I stressed that the service that morning had been very good. 

"I reiterated that it was a civil matter and that there was nothing more to be said. I said that this would be all over social media shortly and that he 'would be famous by tonight'. I then left."

Mr Piesing tweeted what had happened, stirring up a storm on social media. A number of islanders reacted in shock to hearing what had happened. 

In response, Guernsey Airport and Law Enforcement jointly issued this statement initially. 

Since that statement was issued on Thursday afternoon, more details have been released by a spokesperson for Law Enforcement, reiterating that the primary focus of the organisation is to ensure the "safety and security of those who live and work in our islands".

The spokesperson also reiterated that "legitimate safety and security concerns were raised by the content of a social media post issued last month" and that was what prompted the action. 

"For this reason and this reason alone, an individual was spoken with when he next travelled through the airport," said the spokesperson. "He was not advised not to make negative comments about the airport again, but was advised that using certain terminology when directly referencing the airport could be misinterpreted. In any instance where specific, inappropriate language with security implications is used publicly, Law Enforcement cannot be complacent. Law Enforcement would never use officers to prevent open debate about airport services or any other matter of fair public interest. This was a security issue, not a free speech issue."

Mr Piesing identified the police officer who spoke to him by quoting his badge number, and the spokesperson for Law Enforcement has confirmed that officer was acting under the guidance of his superiors.

"The officer in question, who has been subject to considerable social media commentary, acted under the guidance of senior Law Enforcement officers who specialise in counter- terrorism, and did so entirely appropriately.