Picture credit: Nick Redman
A photographer wrongly suspected of taking ?secretive? pictures of barmaids has spoken of his shock when pub managers called in police to investigate.
Nick Redman, a keen photographer who works in IT, decided to take pictures on a night out with colleagues and clients at the Crosse Keys pub on Gracechuch Street in The City of London last night.
But Redman, 44, was left outraged when managers alerted police, even though staff had apparently not objected to the picture-taking which took place around 10pm.
?We nipped outside for a cigarette. The next thing we knew two police officers turned up,? said Redman who was using a Leica M9 digital camera with a 35mm Zeiss f/2 lens.
Redman said the images were just snapshots, some taken by the people he was with, and that they would have stopped if anyone in the pub had complained.
?They [police officers] looked at every picture and were perfectly happy there wasn?t any issue whatsoever (apart from my camera shake and lack of artistic merit).
?They asked me for my details to record that they had spoken to me. I politely refused on the basis that I hadn?t done anything wrong.
?They were fine with this and explained that I didn?t have to give my details in that situation ? I even took a snap of them afterwards.?
Redman has nothing but praise for the police but has fired off an angry letter of complaint to bosses at J D Wetherspoon, the chain that runs the pub.
?I am furious I was branded a criminal in front of clients, friends and the public,? he added.
A spokesman for City of London Police told us: ?There was a suggestion that a group of men were taking secretive photos of female members of staff.?
He said officers attended the scene but felt the photographer had committed no crime.
Police refused to say who had alerted them.
Staff were ‘delivering food’
A spokesman for J D Wetherspoon disputed Redman?s version of events, telling us pub staff had told the men to stop taking photos.
?Three guys were taking photos of staff who were behind the bar and delivering food around the pub,? he said.
?They were asked to stop.
?You can?t just randomly start taking photos of people when they are delivering food.?
The photographer said that when police left the scene a pub manager refused to give his name, claiming this was ?company policy?.
Redman said he doubts there would have been a problem if he had been using a camera phone because it is more discreet.
However, J D Wetherspoon claims its managers would have reacted in the same way to someone taking pictures of its staff ?over a long period of time?.
Picture credit: Nick Redman
