Police arrest row man wins appeal
Simon Wainwright claimed he was left with a broken arm after police arrested him for a public order offence in the city centre.
Although he denied the offence he was convicted by magistrates in 2007 and was given a nine-month conditional discharge. After his conviction he discovered one of the arresting officers, PC Nestor Costa, had posted highly offensive comments on Facebook.
The comments appeared above a clip showing a youth being restrained in a Devon custody suite and the officer wrote: “Look at this stupid c***, hope he got a good f***** shoeing in the cells.”
And commenting on a video showing a woman resisting arrest and eventually being pinned down by several officers he wrote: “Another crazy c*** wanting to have a go!!!”
After the comments were revealed in the Echo, PC Costa was suspended for 12 months during an internal police investigation into the incident. He was eventually fined three days’ pay following a disciplinary hearing.
After the hearing a police spokesman said: “The case was proven and the officer was found guilty in relation to his actions being considered as amounting to conduct likely to bring the force into disrepute. He has been fined and will now return to duty.”
Mr Wainwright launched an appeal against his conviction following the publication of PC Costa’s comments.
And he spoke of his delight after the prosecution offered no evidence against his appeal application and the conviction was formally withdrawn during a brief hearing at Exeter Crown Court.
The 35-year-old, who was living in Newtown, Exeter, at the time of his arrest but has since moved to Cheshire, told the Echo that the abusive comments posted by PC Costa were one of the main motivations behind his long fight to clear his name.
After hearing of the appeal success Mr Wainwright said: “I have not been given the reasons why they have changed their minds, but my solicitor has just phoned me to say the prosecution has finally seen sense and has decided to drop the case.
“I don’t think I should have got the conviction in the first place. All I was doing was telling the police there was a fight going on.”
At his trial, Mr Wainwright accepted he had sworn twice at the officers as he attempted to alert them to a fight outside a pub, but claimed they used excessive force during his arrest.
He said: “I am so glad and am absolutely made up that I have won. It shows there is hope out there for other people. It has been a three-year waste of money and so many letters were sent by my solicitor to say this was not in the public interest to pursue, but the prosecution still went ahead and took it to court.
“The only thing I am downheartened about is that PC Costa has not lost his job. I think he should have been given the sack and not just suspended. I am glad I carried on this fight. It was a fight for my name and also to get this off my record, which I have now done.”
Speaking about the appeal at an earlier hearing, Mr Wainwright’s barrister Joanna Martin said: “This was a public order case from February, 2007. During the course of Mr Wainwright’s arrest his arm was broken.
“He was convicted at trial at the magistrates’ court and received a nine-month conditional discharge.
“Mr Wainwright then discovered PC Costa had been putting very insulting comments on Facebook, which have gone public. Because of that in part, and because Mr Wainwright felt aggrieved by his conviction, he put in an application to appeal in January, 2008.”
