Formal complaint made over 'PC 71'

Tuesday 03 March 2020

The man who was accosted by Guernsey Police as he passed through Airport Security says he has been denied a proper apology from Law Enforcement, and so he's decided to press ahead with a formal complaint.

On 2 January, David Piesing - a local business-man who is an outspoken critic of Guernsey Airport - was going through security on his way to London.

He was taken aback when he was asked to come into an interview room by a police officer, who then "warned" Mr Piesing about his criticism of the airport.

The focus of this "warning" was a specific tweet Mr Piesing had made on 9 December, but he felt Law Enforcement was trying to gag his genuine criticism of a public service and his right to free speech.

Pictured: Guernsey Police have refused to apologise to Mr Piesing. 

He has raised a number of questions, including; how did Guernsey Police know Mr Piesing was travelling on that day? Why did they not contact him before then? Why did they think it was appropriate to pull him aside and talk to him about it, rather than contacting him formally?

Since that point, Mr Piesing said he has been trying to get a public apology from Guernsey Police, but that has not been forthcoming. Today, he said he is going to press on with a formal complaint to the Police Professional Standards Department because of the complete lack of remorse he had seen:

"I have been in liaison with the Law Enforcement Agency since 2 January in an attempt to obtain a public apology for their decision to briefly intercept me at the airport whilst travelling, rather than contacting me directly in the intervening period to raise their concerns regarding one of my tweets in relation to Guernsey Airport security procedures," he said.

Police Complaint Update ⁦@GuernseyPress⁩ ⁦@BailiwickGsy⁩ ⁦@islandfm⁩ ⁦@BBCGuernsey⁩ ⁦@ITVChannelTV⁩ pic.twitter.com/qdS6msMYHC

— David Piesing (@DavidPiesing63) March 3, 2020

"By receiving the appropriate public apology, it could have avoided then need for me to have to make a formal complaint.

"It is fair to say that I was inundated with a large number of messages, including from former senior police officers, advising me that I must insist upon receiving a proper public apology. Unfortunately, the Law Enforcement Agency is unwilling to issue anything more than 'an apology for the way that I felt as a result of their action'. That clearly is not an apology for the decision that they made, which has also resulted in a GDPR breach complaint having been made. It would seem that the Law Enforcement Agency is far more concerned about protecting the individual who made that particular decision, than to apologise for having made that decision." 

Mr Piesing confirmed he would be going ahead with the complaint to the PPSD, alongside the complaint to the Data Protection Authority. 

He said he would not comment further until that process had been finished. 

Pictured top: Guernsey Airport.