GraceAbounds

Couple banned for life from shopping centre and branded 'terrorists' - for taking photos of their grandchildren

Last updated at 17:57pm on 2nd January 2008

A couple were banned for life from a shopping centre - because they were taking photos of their beloved grandchildren.
Kim and Trevor Sparshott were ordered to stop taking photos because they were causing a security threat.
They were thrown out of the centre after they took out a camera to snap the look on the youngsters' faces when they turned up unexpectedly.

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Barred for life: Grandparents Kim and Trevor Sparshott were banned from a shopping centre for taking photos of their grandchildren

The couple were on a four-day break from their home in Spain and wanted to surprise their family by arriving at the centre, in Fareham, Hants, while they were shopping.
But when they went to take a photo, a security guard pounced and ordered them out.
The guard then insisted that cameras were banned because of the risk of a terrorist attack - and barred the bemused couple for life.
Speaking from her home in Malaga, Spain, Mrs Sparshott, 51, said: "I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked.
"He said we had committed an act of terrorism.
"At first I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole because it was so embarassing - but then I got really angry."
Mr Sparshott, 52, added: "Instead of being a nice surprise for our family it turned into a nightmare. I was furious.
"In these worrying times we understand the need for caution, but surely a quiet word when he first saw us would have stopped all this unpleasantness."
The couple, who had been visiting their daughter, who lives in Gosport, Hants, with her husband and children, returned to Spain in shock.
They wrote a letter of complaint to the centre, and received a reply from manager Pam Gillard who said taking photos was a security risk.
In the reply to the Sparshotts, Ms Gillard said: "By the sounds of it my officers/duty manager didn't explain the position very clearly and for that I apologise."
Speaking after the incident, she added: "Fareham Shopping Centre is private property and has a policy to support the security of the shops, where the taking of photographs needs prior permission.
"The Sparshotts are welcome back to the centre."
Ms Gillard refused to comment further on the centre's security policies, but added that the camera ban was not because of a terrorist threat.
The situation has amazed civil rights campaigners, who say the centre's reaction was 'completely over the top'.
Roger Smith, director of civil liberties group Justice, said: "The key is proportionality - it is quite reasonable to have restrictions on what people can do, but this is just daft.
"It seems completely over the top."

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gLing

They went overboard with that. A simple and polite request to put away the camera would have been enough.

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Pudding Time

I was a diplomatic security officer for 4 years here in the US, protecting our embassy and our diplomats. People take photo of our embassy all the time, and it doesn't worry us in the slightest. The ones who take the pictures out in the open aren't the ones you worry about. It's the ones taking the pictures who you can't see that you need to worry about.

This is a silly policy created by good-willed ignorant management.

Mase

That shopping centre definitely sounds over the top.

Peter Parka

I wonder if Fareham's local council is banned from the centre? I'm sure this map, pictures and details of the shopping centre on their website are of much better use to terrorists!

Fareham Borough Council: Town Centre Design Guide Character Assessment 19 Fareham Shopping Centre

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hubersrj

what? you have maps in the UK? do the terrorists know about this? Round up the people from Rand-McNally and have them hung in the square!

RecklessTim

There were a few stories like this about people being arrested or having their camera's confiscated for taking pictures of bridges and on subways. And that was in the US.

This is the type of thing that happens when we live in a culture of fear... Well not me brother... I refuse to live my life in fear of a terrorist attack. I will not give every member of my family a gun to carry around in fear of being attacked around the next corner. I will not give in to the demands of the government to be afraid... Not gonna happen

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Mr President;
It has been reported that you are here to "lecture" us on democracy and human rights. But with a record like yours, you will not be very convincing.

hubersrj

um, ok...I did call the cops when I was on watch in the Navy on a guy that say outside of our gate and snapped off about 2 rolls of film one afternoon...he was pissed when they took all his film and exposed it, lol!!!

Peter Parka

I think taking photos of a war ship is a bit more suspicious than of two grandchildren in a shitty suburban shopping centre, lol!

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hubersrj

not just a warship, the whole damn shipyard!

SouthOfHeaven

this is a lil much ... i mean.... jus wow..

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RecklessTim

You should have had him shot right there on the spot. All perceived threats should be eliminated, even if a few innocents die in the process... At least that's what I took away from the way we dealt with Iraq.

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Mr President;
It has been reported that you are here to "lecture" us on democracy and human rights. But with a record like yours, you will not be very convincing.

hubersrj

Dude, that's the last thing the Navy needed in Hampton Roads.

"Navy Guard shoots tourist in Newport News"

subheadline:
"Receives marksman medal for doing it with a 9mm."

GraceAbounds

Hampton Roads, eh? Small world.

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