Police threatened a retired college lecturer with arrest if he continued to protest to his local town councillor about her opposition to a fundraising event open only to biological women.
Understandably, Dave Boardman and his wife Viv, both 67, got quite a shock when two officers wearing body cameras arrived at their home in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire – the setting for the TV show Happy Valley. The officers explained that they’d come to investigate a claim of harassment from Labour councillor Rebecca Boden (who now sits as an independent following a less-than-happy row with the party).
Ms Boden’s complaint was about three “aggressive” emails that Mr Boardman had sent to her in a dispute over a female-only fundraiser that didn’t admit trans women. He denied the accusations of aggression and maintained he was simply exercising his democratic right to contact his local representative over a matter of concern. Nonetheless, the police kept questioning – and filming – him for 20 minutes.
Mr Boardman’s quarrel with the councillor centred around an event at a community theatre that his daughter Cathy had arranged to raise money to pay the legal costs for an employment tribunal. Not insignificantly, her case was that she’d been unfairly dismissed as a music college lecturer after students said she was ‘transphobic’ for asking them to debate whether drag acts are sexist.
The event was temporarily cancelled after complaints to the venue about its failure to be ‘trans-inclusive’. Mr Boardman wrote to Ms Boden because he believed she was encouraging the campaign to get his daughter’s fundraiser stopped.
The bodycam footage of the threatened arrest was later obtained by Mr Boardman via a subject access request to West Yorkshire Police.
It shows the officers at the couple’s home at about 7.30pm on 5th February 2023. One says: “We don’t intend to get into the argument and why you’re to-ing and fro-ing between the two of you. The reason why we’ve come to speak to you is to say please don’t contact her again.”
Mr Boardman can be seen responding with disbelief that he’s being instructed not to contact his own councillor by the police.
The officer adds that he’s only directing Mr Boardman not to email Ms Boden about the cancellation of Cathy’s event – otherwise, “we could be inviting you down to the police station”.
Speaking on Monday when the story emerged, Mr Boardman said: “The whole thing is ridiculous, but sadly it’s a sign of the times, of what’s happening to our democracy. It’s scary that they could even contemplate coming to tell someone not to contact your elected official.”
In fact, though, police in Hebden Bridge have form in this area. Also in 2023, a pensioner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was quizzed on suspicion of a hate crime because she stopped on a walk to take a photograph of a sticker reading “Keep Males Out Of Women-Only Spaces” that had been put on a Pride poster.
Four weeks later, officers swooped on the home of the 73 year-old woman, who – unlike many real criminals – had apparently been identified from CCTV footage. (West Yorkshire Police has the second-highest crime rate in the UK, but more than 80 per cent of burglary cases are closed without a suspect ever being identified.) They proceeded to question the possible thought criminal about her recreational camera use for the next 30 minutes.
On seeing the officers, the woman said, “I could only think they must be bringing tragic news about a family member. I was extremely shocked and upset”.
But after she opened the door, they explained, “We have received a complaint, so we have a duty to investigate it.” According to the woman, they then “gave a sermon. I felt as if they were trying to gag a dissenting voice by harassing me in my own home”.
Eventually, the police decided that “no crime had taken place” when she photographed an inanimate object on a public pavement. However, thanks to another subject access request, she later learnt that the investigation had been catalogued as a ‘non-crime hate incident’.
Fun fact: at a recent question and answer meeting held by Calderdale Council, which covers Hebden Bridge, one person asked: “Why is the Council giving £2,500 every year to the discredited organisation Stonewall?”
More on the main story here.
For more on Calderdale Council and Stonewall, click here.
