A retired special constable was arrested and held in a police cell for eight hours after posting a tweet warning about the rise of antisemitism in the UK following pro-Palestinian marches.
Julian Foulkes, 71, who served for ten years with Kent Police, was detained at his home in Gillingham by six officers in November 2023.
His arrest followed a brief exchange on X in which he warned a user about the potential direction of antisemitic sentiment in Britain, referencing scenes from Dagestan, Russia, where a mob stormed an airport looking for Jewish passengers.
Responding to a user who had defended participation in a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Mr Foulkes posted: “One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…”
He later told the Telegraph that his intention had been to highlight the risks of antisemitic escalation. Kent Police interpreted it as a potential antisemitic threat. “In hindsight, it would have been clearer had it begun with the words: ‘What next? You are…’,” he said. “But even without the extra wording, it should have been clear to anyone reading it in context that his post was a warning about where anti-Semitic hate could lead.”
Mr Foulkes told the paper; “Free speech is clearly under attack. Nobody is really safe… the public needs to see what’s happening, and be shocked.”
Police body-worn camera footage from the arrest, posted by the Telegraph shows officers inspecting Mr Foulkes’s bookshelves, including works by Douglas Murray and copies of The Spectator, and referring to the material as “very Brexity things”.
“That’s about the level of extremist I am… a few Douglas Murray books and some on Brexit,” said Mr Foulkes. Officers also examined a shopping list belonging to his wife, a hairdresser, and raised concern over items such as bleach and tin foil.
“Bleach, foil, gloves… Bit of an odd list, isn’t it?” one officer remarked on the footage, before realising her profession.
His house was searched under Section 32 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. Mr Foulkes said: “Ten years, I gave them. Every year we were drilled on officer safety, told any use of force had to be justified. And they put me in cuffs on my own doorstep.”
After being driven to Medway police station, fingerprinted, and having his DNA taken, he was questioned on suspicion of malicious communications.
He accepted a police caution, fearing the consequences of a formal charge on his ability to visit his daughter in Australia. “My life wouldn’t be worth living if I couldn’t see her,” he said.
“I didn’t agree, but I felt I had no choice. In hindsight, it would never have gone to court. The CPS wouldn’t touch it with no evidence. But I wasn’t thinking logically at the time.”
Mr Foulkes said the incident had left a lasting emotional impact. “It’s like PTSD. You push it to the back of your mind, but it comes back and you relive it. It was just so wrong – and especially painful because I’d spent 10 years working with these people for no remuneration. I did it because I believed in it and enjoyed it.”
Kent Police told the JC: “Kent Police apologises to Mr Foulkes for the distress caused and how the report was investigated. We have expunged the caution from his record and are pleased to facilitate this correction. Mr Foulkes has been informed of the decision and a further review of the matter will now be carried out to identify any learning opportunities.”
Mr Foulkes’ solicitor, Matthew Elkins told the Telegraph that the case was emblematic of a broader shift: “Julian’s case highlights a need for the police to take stock, and to make freedom of expression their starting point – our freedoms won’t be taken from us suddenly, but by the quiet and gradual criminalisation of our conscience.”
