Police ‘terror’ swoop on BBC man
A BBC radio reporter was held to the ground and searched by police under the Terrorism Act after his transmitter equipment was mistaken for a bomb.
Six officers forced BBC Radio Stoke’s Max Khan to his knees and held him face down in the city on Monday.
Police were told an “Arabic-looking man was acting suspiciously” outside a shopping centre, Mr Khan said.
He was wearing a backpack with protruding wires and aerials. Staffordshire Police has apologised.
Mr Khan’s backpack contained equipment that is regularly used to allow reporters to broadcast from locations around the city centre.
He was outside the Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley on his way back from a story about the recently-moved Post Office.
He said the officers came at him from several directions at about 1100 BST and shouted for him “get down on the floor”.
Why ‘lucky’?
Because usually that’s the point when you get 7 bullets in your head.
