Riot arrest man to make complaint as no charges brought
A MAN arrested during Friday’s riot in south Belfast’s Sandy Row plans to take a complaint to the Police Ombudsman after he was detained for over 18 hours without charge.
Joel Keys, from Taughmonagh in south west Belfast, said he was arrested by police as he attempted to take a 13-year-old boy known to him back to his mother and away from trouble.
The 19-year-old explained he was walking past the Shaftesbury Square area when he saw the large police presence.
Believing it was a bomb alert, Mr Keys went to take a look before he saw the 13-year-old involved in the clashes with police.
After texting the boy’s mother, who arrived at the scene, Mr Keys stayed to keep an eye on him after he refused to leave the area.
“Eventually it got to a point where the police starting playing their sirens, basically telling everyone to get ready for them to advance,” Mr Keys explained.
“I started to walk back but I noticed the wee fella was by the police line and he didn’t look like he was moving. The police started moving forward and I noticed he ran into a wee side alley.
“He’s from the area and I’m not so I just assumed he knew his way about. I didn’t want to leave him by himself so I ran into the alley after him.
“We were in Kensington Medical Centre and that’s when the police surrounded the place. We were fully co-operative and I made it very clear I was not a rioter and I was here to look after this wee lad.”
Mr Keys said he was placed under arrest in the back of a PSNI Land Rover before being taken to Musgrave Custody Suite around 12.30am on Saturday morning.
Admitting he was frustrated after explaining he was not involved in the riot, Joel continued to be co-operative with police and insisted he told every officer he dealt with there were no grounds for what he described as his “unlawful” arrest.
He said he was continually told by police that his interview would commence shortly but claimed the on-call solicitor could not be contacted by the PSNI, leaving him with no legal representation.
Mr Keys said he was also unable to contact his mother to let her know where he was as his phone battery was dead.
After being interviewed for “about three minutes” at 4.55pm, Mr Keys was eventually released around 7.30pm on Saturday evening. He must now adhere to a series of bail conditions until May 7, when he will be informed whether he will be charged or cautioned.
Mr Keys added: “The whole thing was a joke and the whole time I made it very clear that it was all unlawful.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous and there was no reason for any of it.”
Belfast’s District Commander, Chief Superintendent Simon Walls, said enquiries are continuing and, as this is an ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
“Anyone with a complaint regarding police actions should contact the office of the Police Ombudsman,” he added.
Mr Keys, who hopes to have a career in politics, insisted his future will not be affected by the incident.
“The job of a politician is to protect people and if that’s all I’m guilty of then I’ll happily take whatever it is that they’re going to throw at me,” he said.
“I know that I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong so they can try and dissuade me from filing reports because it’ll affect my future — I don’t care.”