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BARE-FACED CHEEK
I mooned a speed camera then got ARRESTED by seven cops – most people don’t know the tragic reason why
A DAD-of-two got arrested by SEVEN cops after mooning a speed camera - but most people don't know the tragic reason behind his practical joke.
Darrell Meekcom from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, made headlines last year when he was tackled to the ground by police officers in the garden of his home.
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A shocking video filmed by Darrell's wife captured the moment officers forced him into cuffs after kicking down the gate.
As police shout instructions and a dog barks, Darrell can be heard saying: "This is ridiculous, I mooned at a street camera."
The cops claimed Darrell obstructed them from arresting him on suspicion of indecent exposure - and have dragged him in and out of court for the last few months.
But there's a moving reason behind why the disabled lecturer bared his buttocks in November.
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The 55-year-old wiggled his bum to the speed camera because it was on his bucket list of things to do before he dies.
Darrell had drawn up the wishlist less than a month before the cheeky stunt after he was sadly diagnosed with a rare nervous system condition.
Having already suffered from Parkinson's and heart and kidney problems, the discovery of Multiple System Atrophy meant Darrell had just six years to live.
So when he was shopping with his wife, Sarah, 37, in November, he couldn't resist the opportunity.
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The former senior A&E nurse told The Sun: ”I did it because I kept getting bloody speeding tickets.
“I’m a slow driver but I kept getting fines for doing 33mph in a 30mph zone. I’d get a ticket and it just annoyed the living daylights out of me.
“So when I saw the camera van parked up ahead of me, I just thought ‘why not?’.
"It was just sticking my fingers up to the establishment, really. After you get a terminal diagnosis, you get a bit of a strange sense of humour.
“I was wearing jeans so as I got to the camera I undid my belt and top button and flashed about five inches of my bum in the direction of the camera.
“I wiggled my bum and after a couple of seconds pulled my jeans back up .
“My intention was just to stick one up at the state. It was a joke. I had no intention of insulting anyone.”
Months later, Darrell has been found not guilty of resisting arrest after an all-day hearing at Redditch Magistrates' Court.
My intention was just to stick one up at the state. It was a joke. I had no intention of insulting anyone.
Darrell Meekcom
Charges of using threatening and abusive words were dropped before the trial.
Yet his lawyers reckon the prosecution and police costs would have “easily” topped £5k and could even have reached £10k.
During the legal proceedings, prosecutors insisted West Mercia Police's conduct was “proper” but condemned Darrell's "appalling and ridiculous behaviour" for wasting the emergency service's valuable time.
The court also heard how Darrell had mocked police officers before his arrest - allegedly singing at one, calling him names and commenting on his hair.
Another officer claimed the dad-of-two had threatened to fire a water pistol through his letter box.
Darrell told The Sun: “When I was back at home the police turned up. One knocked on the door and I asked him what he wanted and he said he needed to speak to me about flashing.
“I had looked up mooning on the internet which said it wasn’t a criminal offence so I was a bit surprised. I said I was only mooning.
“I told him I wasn’t coming out. Instead I started to play Monty Python’s ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’.
“I opened the window and started singing along with it. Then I sat down and had a cigarette with the back door open.”
The terminally-ill dad has conducted himself with the same level of stubbornness throughout the court hearings.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, he said of the dramatic footage: “It’s just overkill, isn’t it.
It’s too much for what it was. I’m not a terrorist.
Darrell Meekcom
“It’s too much for what it was. I’m not a terrorist. There were less police at a shooting the other week. And all I did was show my bottom.”
Back in November, the mooner was stunned when a mystery mural appeared on a wall in his neighbourhood.
The graffitti showed Bart Simpson baring his bottom to two police officers with riot shields and batons.
Social media leaped to the conclusion that the anonymous painter was the famed Banksy himself, although has since claimed the work as his own.
So when Darrell appeared in court in May, he wore a t-shirt printed with the artwork in a display of his own defiance.
He wore the Bart Simpson top as he pleaded not guilty to the charges at Worcester Magistrates’ Court.
Speaking after the not guilty verdict on Tuesday, the dad said: “They should be ashamed of themselves. I’m a dying man - a threat to absolutely no-one.
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“Convicting me doesn’t have an impact on my life. I’ve already got a death sentence.
“I know the police on the whole do a brilliant job. But these ones treated me like a terrorist.”
Darrell's bucket list
Before he dies, Darrell also wants to:
- Streak at a Worcester Warriors rugby game
- Take his daughters, nine and 11, to Disney Florida
- Go to an Ed Sheeran concert with the family
- Take wife Sarah to a Michelin-starred restaurant
- Drive a vintage Jaguar around Silverstone
- Watch Adele perform in Las Vegas
- Go Salmon fishing in Cork, Ireland
- Watch a heavyweight title fight
- Take the kids to see Father Christmas in Lapland
- See England at Twickenham
To help Darrell achieve his other bucket list aims, visit:
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