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UK man arrested for not smiling during Olympics
[Quote]:
A man from Britain with Parkinson’s disease was arrested while watching the Olympic cycling road race because he “failed to smile or look like he was enjoying himself.”
Mark Worsfold, a martial arts trainer and former soldier, said that he was thrown to the floor and handcuffed just as cyclists passed by, Gulf News reported.
His worried wife Nicola only found out he was being held after she reported him missing when he did not turn up for their daughter’s ninth birthday party.
The 54-year-old had his fingerprints, DNA and mugshot taken before being questioned about why he did not appear to be enjoying the event on July 28.
Police said Worsfold, who was held for over five hours, was arrested because of “his manner, his state of dress and his proximity to the course.”
A spokesman added that the arrest was necessary to avoid a breach of the peace because he was standing near a group of protesters.
But Worsfold, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2010, said that one of the symptoms of the disease is muscle rigidity, which can cause his face to become expressionless and mask-like.
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They don’t even give The Onion credit for the story. Lame.
Alas, it’s a true story, apparently. The most recent issue of Private Eye ran it as well, they added an ironic quote from former Assistant Police Commissioner John Yates (see the profile of his career on Wikipedia) from is column on the Daily Telegraph, where he praised the police for their “much practiced art of of policing by discretion, with officers acting sensitively and independently, with genuine warmth and humour”.
So much for behavioural profiling.