Father claims he feels ‘violated’ by heavy-handed council security
Craig says he was ‘frog-marched’ out of derby city hQ for no reason
A DERBY man says he feels “violated” after being allegedly assaulted at the city’s council house.
Craig Brown says he was waiting for his six-year-old daughter to finish using the toilets when a security guard at the building “manhandled” him out of the entrance.
The 46-year-old says he has been left in pain after the incident, which he says came out of the blue as he wasn’t being aggressive, abusive or confrontational.
The Allenton man, who runs a bin cleaning business, says he was further insulted by the security guard following the incident when they allegedly told him to “go and get a job”.
The father-of-five says he was shocked at the escalation when all he had wanted to do was get his name added to a tenancy agreement for a property he wanted to buy with his partner.
He said the receptionist told him he would have to ring Derby Homes to sort this out, at which point his daughter, Isabella, asked to use the toilet.
Mr Brown said: “I said I will wait here for you. She goes off to the toilet. I waited for her and rang Derby Homes.”
Mr Brown said while he was on hold a security guard approached him.
“He said ‘you can’t stand here, you’re in the way.’ I said I’ll stand over here out the way then - I’m waiting for my six-year-old daughter.
I said ‘I’m waiting for my daughter and I’m on the phone to Derby Homes.’
“Next thing I know, he’s got my arms behind my back and he was frog-marching me out the entrance. I said ‘my daughter is in there’ and I was starting to feel a little bit aggrieved. I said you’re a jobsworth, I’m not causing any trouble and I’m waiting for my daughter. I could understand if I had been kicking off, but I wasn’t. I’ve got a heart condition, high blood pressure and arthritis in my lower spine - I try to stay as calm as possible so it doesn’t strike my blood pressure.” Mr Brown says while his daughter did make it out okay, he is concerned about the behaviour of the guard in question.
He said: “I’ve told the council I don’t believe this type of behaviour should be condoned. I feel as if I’ve been violated - quite simply I’m baffled as to how people that are supposed to be keeping the peace can act like this.”
A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “We are investigating a complaint by a member of the public which involves looking into the circumstances around this incident.”
A spokesperson for Derbyshire police said: “Officers are investigating a report of an assault in Corporation Street, Derby on Tuesday, August 31. A 46-year-old man reported that he was assaulted by another man at Derby City Council House at 1.30pm.”
Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident to call them.
I said you’re a jobsworth, I’m not causing any trouble and I’m waiting for my daughter. Craig Brown