Police have apologised for handcuffing a pensioner over a social media post warning about the threat of antisemitism in Britain.
Julian Foulkes, who served in the police force for a decade, was "shocked" and "flabbergasted" when six officers from Kent Police arrived at his doorstep equipped with batons and pepper spray.
Kent Police has since apologised for the "distress" caused to one of their former colleagues.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News that the arrest was "absolutely disgraceful".
Police have apologised for handcuffing a pensioner over a social media post warning about the threat of anti-Semitism in Britain
GETTYHe told The People's Channel: "That should never have happened. We cannot have the police harassing clearly innocent people. He clearly hadn't committed a crime in that way. Absolutely disgraceful. Kent police have apologised and were quite right to."
The Shadow Home Secretary said that the Conservatives would abolish non-crime hate incidents to "stop this kind of nonsense happening in the first place".
Last night he said: "Arresting a 71 year old man and holding him for hours in a police cell over a tweet that was obviously not criminal is completely unacceptable.
"The Police should spend their time catching actual criminals, not policing offence on Twitter."
The officers arrived after Foulkes challenged a supporter of pro-Palestinian marches on social media site, X.
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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News that the arrest was 'absolutely disgraceful'
GB NewsDuring the search, police scrutinised his collection of books by authors such as Spectator columnist Douglas Murray, describing them as "very Brexity things".
Officers also raised concerns about a shopping list containing bleach, tin foil and gloves drawn up by Foulkes's wife, a hairdresser.
Kent Police later admitted the caution was a mistake and deleted it from Foulkes's record.
A Kent Police spokesman told The Telegraph that the force had "concluded that the caution against Mr Foulkes was not appropriate in the circumstances and should not have been issued".
The spokesman added that a further review would be carried out "to identify any learning opportunities".
Kent Police later admitted the caution was a mistake and deleted it from Foulkes's record
PAFoulkes voiced his concerns about threats to free speech in the UK, he said: "Free speech is clearly under attack. Nobody is really safe the public needs to see what's happening, and be shocked. I never saw anything like this when I was in the force. But this woke mind virus infecting everything has definitely infected the police."
Foulkes described the emotional damage as like PTSD, revealing that the incident cost money that he cannot afford as a pensioner.
He described the experience as "trashing" his decade of police service memories.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman condemned the police action as "outrageous" and a "shameful waste of time, money and resources".
Responding to the incident, a Home Office spokesman said: "This incident occurred under the previous Government. The Home Secretary has made clear that she believes all police forces should be focused on the central priorities of the Government's Safer Streets Mission."
