Grandmother arrested on race charges after telling rowdy Asian students to 'go home'
Grandmother arrested on race charges after telling rowdy Asian students to 'go home'
dailymail.co.uk ^ | July 24, 2008
After being woken for the third time in one night by a group of drunken and noisy students, Jo Calvert-Mindell was at her wits' end.
The former policewoman got dressed, went outside and shouted at them: 'Why can't you go back to where you come from and make some noise there? I bet your families and neighbours wouldn't put up with it.
'You don't care about us and do just as you like. What gives you the right to frighten my elderly neighbours, cause damage and keep us awake at night?'
She also reported the incident to police, who came and dispersed the eight students.
The 51-year-old grandmother was astonished when four months later she was arrested and accused of being a racist. It turned out that two Asians in the group had complained to the police.
In April, Miss Calvert-Mindell, who has never been in trouble with the police before, was charged with using racially aggravated threatening words or behaviour under section 5 of the Public Order Act.
In May, she appeared at Folkestone Magistrates' Court in Kent, where she denied the charge.
The case hung over her until the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop it last week, admitting there was little chance of conviction. Now she is filing a complaint about the way the police treated her.
Yesterday, Miss Calvert-Mindell, a Liberal Democrat councillor and community volunteer, said: 'The last thing I am is a racist.
'I have a totally inclusive attitude to different races and cultures - I don't care if you are black, white, green or a Martian.
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