A Yorkshire IT consultant who was arrested after posting a photo of himself holding a gun while on holiday in the United States says he intends to sue the police, claiming the experience has
left him feeling unwelcome in his own country.
Jon Richelieu-Booth, 50, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, said he endured “13 weeks of hell” after uploading the image to LinkedIn in August. The photo, taken during a shooting excursion on private land in Florida, showed him holding a legally possessed firearm with the owner’s permission.
Richelieu-Booth said an officer first visited his home to warn him about the post after a member of the public raised concerns. But on the night of August 24, officers returned and arrested him. According to his bail documents, he faced allegations of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and a separate claim of stalking.
The consultant said the incident shattered his trust in policing and has pushed him towards relocating to the US permanently.
“You’re brought up to respect the police because you think they’re there to protect you,” he told the ‘Daily Mail’. “As soon as you realise that’s not the case, that trust is instantly corroded. I’ve not slept for weeks… I don’t feel welcome or safe in this country anymore.”
Richelieu-Booth alleges the complainant behind the police action is a contractor who owes him around £30,000. He admitted that he had also posted a photograph of the contractor’s home—supplied by a business partner—but insists he attempted to show police geolocation data proving the gun image was taken abroad. He said officers dismissed the evidence as “not needed” before arresting him the next day.
He spent a night in a police cell while officers questioned neighbours. Although the firearm and stalking allegations were later dropped, he was charged with a public order offence related to a different social media post. He said he was never told which post specifically, only the date. On that day, he had called the contractor a “delinquent” and urged him to “do the right thing.”
Police said the complainant believed the gun photos constituted a threat, despite no explicit threat being made.
Richelieu-Booth was due to appear at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and faced a maximum of six months in jail. However, the case was dismissed after the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction, according to the ‘Yorkshire Post’.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “Police received a complaint of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, relating partly to social media posts, several of which included pictures of a male posing with a variety of firearms which the complainant took to be a threat. Police investigated and charged a man with a public order offence but the case was then discontinued by the CPS.” Photo by Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA, Wikimedia commons.