A senior citizen in Leicester faced a distressing ordeal when law enforcement officials cordoned off his residence and arrested him on suspicion of involvement in a homicide. Bobby Carmichael, a 79-year-old resident of Beaumont Leys, was subjected to 15 hours in custody before officers informed him that the deceased person, discovered in a city park, had actually passed away due to natural causes.
Mr. Carmichael recounted the harrowing experience, mentioning that he and a female companion were taken into custody after she stumbled upon the body in a city park. He explained that his friend had ventured into Castle Gardens in Leicester to search for a lost doll from the previous night when she made the grim discovery.
Following the incident, Mr. Carmichael and his 46-year-old friend returned to his home in Beaumont Leys and were watching television when the police arrived, taking his friend away and subsequently arresting him. It later emerged that the deceased individual was someone Mr. Carmichael had known for years from his involvement in taxi driving in Leicester.
Expressing his dismay, Mr. Carmichael criticized the police response as excessive and labeled his time in custody as a “nightmare.” Despite receiving apologies from the authorities for the wrongful arrest, he expressed deep concern about the police cordon at his residence and the traumatic impact of the incident.
Leicestershire Police indicated that an inquiry will be carried out by HM Coroner to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the man’s demise. Detective Inspector Lorna Granville, the lead investigator, justified the arrests based on the available information at the time and noted that both individuals were released without further action following a post-mortem examination which pointed to a suspected medical cause of death.
DI Granville emphasized that the cordoning off of the area and the arrests were conducted in compliance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. She also stated that the authorities had engaged with the individuals arrested to clarify the necessity of their actions and acknowledged the distress caused by the situation.
