(I originally posted this on 6 July 2012, but was reminded of the story this morning. It's absurdity needs to be remembered.)
M2RB: The Clash
He thinks it's not kosher
Fundamentally he can't take it.
You know he really hates it.
The sharif don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
The sharif don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY STAR: THE NEWS IN CINNAMON'S PICTURES
She has heard them many times over
the past few days, but speaking the words 'racially aggravated assault'
still causes Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury's entire body to shake and tears
to stream down her face. Her
name may have been cleared, but it is obvious the scars of being
accused of a vicious hate crime will be more difficult to erase.
Last
Thursday, a jury at Isleworth Crown Court in West London took just 15
minutes to acquit her of shoving a pregnant Muslim woman to the floor
and calling her husband a terrorist during a row in Tesco. Despite Miss
Heathcote-Drury's relief at the verdict, her sense of bewilderment at
what has happened remains her overwhelming emotion.
The
investigation that led to the celebrated photographer - whose work
hangs in the National Portrait Gallery - being tried was described in
court as 'a shambles'. To
her, it often felt like being trapped in a dystopian world in which she
could not make her version of events heard, no matter how hard she
tried.
Although, in fact,
she says she was the victim of assault, her own accusations were
dismissed while her accusers' claims were pursued by police.
Today
the elegant 41-year-old is exhausted, but grateful finally to have her
chance to explain the truth about this strange and disturbing case. 'I've been going out of my
mind since this all happened,' she says. 'I've been on antidepressants
and anti-anxiety pills because of the stress.
'The sense of powerlessness at what was happening was overwhelming.'
'I
didn't even tell any of my friends about the charges until April,
because I couldn't bear to say them; they were too hideous. I have a lot
of friends of different ethnic backgrounds and I didn't want to plant
even the smallest doubt in their minds about me.
'Before
this, I believed that if you were innocent and told the truth, you
would be protected by the system, but I've learned some very hard
lessons.
'I kept
waiting for my story to be investigated, and it never was. Of course it
was an enormous relief to be acquitted so quickly, but I find it
absolutely terrifying that the case against me could have gone as far as
it did.
On trial: Isleworth Crown Court had heard Heathcote Drury called a Muslim family 'terrorists'
Eleven of Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury’s portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery, including a pensive shot of London Mayor Boris Johnson and one of broadcaster Zeinab Badawi. Her career began in 2000 when she asked Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman to pose for the gallery section on news gatherers. Her other subjects include politician Kenneth Clarke and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo.
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Paxman
are just two of Heathcote-Drury's images at the National Portrait Gallery
Even a relatively short time in
her company reveals that if Miss Heathcote-Drury had committed the
crimes it would have been remarkably out of character. Articulate and
bohemian but resolutely middle-class, she grew up in Devon, the daughter
of Trevor Heathcote-Drury, a hotelier and pilot, and his wife Roxanne,
an artist.
After a
stint running The Amber Trust, a charity which helps blind and partially
sighted children to become involved in music, she became a
photographer, making her name with a portrait of Newsnight presenter
Jeremy Paxman.
'I glanced over and thought, “This poor woman's going to be there for hours.”'
A diverse career followed, including
other celebrity portraits, charity projects, such as one with Cancer
Research, and teaching photography to disadvantaged students at City and
Westminster College.
It
was on November 30 last year that she unwittingly became embroiled in
the extraordinary fracas at a Tesco superstore in West London.
She
had been to see a friend and was on her way home to Kensington when she
decided to pop into the store for some groceries at about 2pm. She
was waiting to pay at the checkout when she noticed a man with two
small children also queuing. They were joined by a woman wearing a hijab
and a long black tunic who began unloading an overflowing trolley, one
item at a time.
She
says: 'I glanced over and thought, “This poor woman's going to be there
for hours.” Her husband was standing closest to me, so I said to him,
“Will you help her?”
'He
said, “I've got the children.” I said, “Well, I can help her” and he
replied, “What's it to you?” I said, “This is what feminism's about -
women helping women.”
He
said, “Oh, get lost.” I looked at the woman and said, “We live in a
society in Britain where rights are equal - if you need help you can ask
for it.”
Very little
was revealed in court about the couple, Abdelkrim Danyaoui and Mounia
Hamoumi, aside from his stated occupation of 'teacher' and the fact that
Mrs Hamoumi had been pregnant at the time of the incident.
Cinnamon Heathclote-Drury leaves Isleworth Crown Court at the end of the case
Miss Heathcote-Drury says her initial
impression was that the woman was elegantly dressed and appeared to
have a French accent, while she assumed the man was of Mediterranean
origin. She accepts that her offer of help caused offence, but denies
her comments about British society were intended as a slight against the
couple's Islamic culture.
'I
wasn't trying to be inflammatory, or condescending, or implying
anything about their race or religion,' she says. 'I was trying to make
sure the woman was OK because I don't think women generally do enough in
small ways to help one another.'
'The
couple became infuriated. 'The husband came up behind me and said in my
ear, “You f*** off,” which I found very intimidating,' Miss
Heathcote-Drury says. 'I wanted to get out of the shop as quickly as
possible, but he approached me again.'
She
called for a security guard and when one arrived, he began speaking to
the man. Meanwhile, Miss Heathcote-Drury, who had paid for her shopping,
was making her escape down the aisle when she claims she felt a sharp
pain in her left shin and stumbled.
'The woman was standing with her hand on her hip and smirking. She wanted to humiliate me. Then she hit me on the left cheek.'
According
to Miss Heathcote-Drury, a struggle ensued in which she was kicked in
the right shin and her hat was wrenched from her head before the woman
lost her balance and fell.
The security guard called the police while the couple continued to put their shopping through the till.
'I
didn't want the police to be called, but because I'd told the guard I'd
been hit and kicked, I was informed Tesco were obliged to call them,'
she says. 'I asked the guard to let me speak to the police to say I
didn't want to press charges - I just wanted to forget it as I hadn't
been badly hurt.
'At
this point, the couple were talking to one another in a language I
didn't understand. I think they had realised what was happening and were
concocting their story. They kept shouting at me. I couldn't believe
it.
Another Cinnamon portrait: Zeinab Mohammed-Khair Badawi
In
shock and trembling, Miss Heathcote-Drury was led to a back room to
wait until two police officers arrived. They took her name, date of
birth and address, and then left. When they returned after speaking to
the couple, she was told she was being arrested for racially aggravated
assault.
'I was absolutely astounded,' she
says. 'It was just total disbelief. I had no idea what was going on, but
I kept thinking, “When they watch the CCTV they'll see what happened.”
'I
now know they had spoken to the couple before me and believed their
story without even hearing mine. They marched me through the store and
took me to Chelsea police station. It was the most terrifying experience
of my life. They spent hours fingerprinting me, taking my details and
my DNA, in a stark room. I kept asking if I could see a nurse, because
my cheek was very sore, but I was told the nurse was busy.
'I
asked again and again when I could make my statement, but the officer
kept saying, “You can't make a statement, you're under arrest.”
'They
asked me if I wanted to call anyone and I thought, “Who can I call?”
I'm single and couldn't afford a lawyer because a lot of my work is
voluntary and unpaid. My liberty had been removed and I had no voice. No
one was listening.'
A
duty solicitor arrived and explained that the couple had claimed Miss
Heathcote-Drury had used the words 'suicide bomber' and 'terrorist',
called the man a 'bad feminist' and said they were probably on
jobseekers' allowance. She was then interviewed.
'I
said that I hadn't used the words “suicide bomber”, but the officer
asked me how I would feel, as a Muslim, being called that,' she says. 'I
felt they didn't want to listen.'
Finally,
at 11.35pm, when she was informed the CPS had decided to release her
pending further investigation, she was allowed to see a nurse. She then
gave her statement before arriving home at 5.30am.
On
December 17, three days before she was due to return to the police
station, she says she received a call from one of the investigating
officers asking her to make a statement about her assault claims. 'I
told him I'd made one already and he said he hadn't seen it,' she says.
She
had also discovered, on returning to Tesco, that police had not yet
spoken to the security guard, despite him offering to give a statement.
Photographer Cinnamon Heathcote -Drury at a recent exhibition of her work
Three days later, her worst
fears were realised when she was charged. 'I was in shock,' she says. 'I
was told the CPS had made the decision to charge me on December 16,
without even knowing about my counter-allegation. I felt the police had
no interest in my side at all.
'They hadn't talked to any witnesses apart from the couple and a cashier who hadn't seen crucial parts of the incident.
'I felt like they just wanted me as a convenient statistic to help them meet a target.'
Through
a contact, she was able to enlist the services of a solicitor from
Tuckers, England's leading criminal defence practice.
They
advised her to ask for her case to be heard at a crown court rather
than a magistrates' court, where she would have more opportunities to
give her side of events.
Her
trial took place over four days last week. Being questioned was an
ordeal, but Miss Heathcote-Drury says she was glad the trial had arrived
after months of waiting.
'I felt no animosity towards the couple. I understand that I could pursue my case against them, but I never wanted that in the first place.'
On the first day, her accusers gave
their evidence against her. The security guard also told the court that
he had heard Miss Heathcote-Drury say she did not want to press charges.
However, he admitted he had not seen the tussle or how Mrs Hamoumi came
to fall.
Another
witness, the cashier, also gave evidence saying that he had not seen the
crucial incident but had heard the man telling Miss Heathcote-Drury to
'f*** off'.
She says: 'I felt no animosity towards the couple.
'They
probably couldn't believe their luck when the police believed them. I'm
sure they had no idea how the situation would escalate. I understand
that I could pursue my case against them, but I never wanted that in the
first place.
'I just want to put the entire episode behind me.'
Had
she been convicted, the photographer was warned to expect community
service - 'an irony, given it would have put an end to the voluntary
work I do normally'.
In
the end, CCTV did not show the incident, but the fact the acquittal was
delivered so quickly was testament to the strength of her defence.
Her
lawyer Miss Sarnjit Lal says: 'We were astonished with the way the case
was handled, the fact Miss Heathcote-Drury was charged and that it went
to crown court. It has been a terrible ordeal for her and a total waste
of public resources.'
Miss
Heathcote-Drury says: 'I find it very sad we live in a culture which
seems to believe if we try to help someone, we're asking for trouble.'
A spokesman for Tesco said: 'We do not comment on police matters.'
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