Pensioner who was arrested over 'thought crime' tweet receives £20k payout from Kent Police

The force detained Foulkes for eight hours, searched his home, and issued him with a caution following his arrest on November 2, 2023.

Kent Police later confirmed the caution was a mistake and deleted it from his record.

Chief Constable Tim Smith personally telephoned Foulkes to apologise for the "ordeal he endured".

The force has now agreed to an out-of-court settlement after Foulkes launched a legal challenge supported by the Free Speech Union.

Foulkes's X post was responding to an activist threatening to sue then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman for calling pro-Palestinian demonstrations "hate marches".

In his post, sent two days before police visited, Foulkes wrote: "One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals."

The post referenced news reports of an antisemitic mob that stormed an airport in Dagestan, Russia, looking for Jewish passengers.

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On November 2, six officers arrived at his home armed with batons and pepper spray.

Police body-worn camera footage captured officers scrutinising Foulkes's book collection, including works by authors such as Douglas Murray and issues of The Spectator.

Officers pointed to what they described as "very Brexity things" during their search.

Foulkes was arrested, fingerprinted, photographed and swabbed for DNA before being locked in a police cell and interrogated on suspicion of malicious communications.

Fearing further escalation could impact his ability to visit his daughter in Australia, Foulkes accepted the caution despite having committed no offence.

Earlier this month, Kent Police confirmed the caution was deleted from his record.

In a letter to Foulkes's solicitors, the force reiterated the chief constable's apology for the "distress caused by the actions of his officers".

The letter confirmed Kent Police would pay "compensation in the sum of £20,000 plus your client's reasonable legal fees in full and final settlement".

Kent Police also referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over the incident.

Foulkes said he was "naturally pleased that Kent Police had been swift to follow their apology with compensation".

But the pensioner added: "However, this was never about money."

"For me, it was a simple matter of right and wrong and I now need to see that the full investigation I have been promised takes place and necessary actions are taken to prevent any recurrence," Foulkes said.

Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, called the incident "disgraceful" and said it was wrong that Foulkes had been "investigated and harassed in the first place".

He said: "Police should be catching real criminals, not wasting time on non-criminal social media posts."

Philp added: "This has happened again and again and the officers responsible for this shocking incident need to be held responsible. Police chiefs need to get a grip and end this nonsense."

He called on the Government to support his proposed amendment to Labour's Crime and Policing Bill to "abolish non-crime hate incidents".