Premier League - Anichebe slams bungling cops

Eurosport - Thu, 12 Mar 18:41:00 2009

Injured Everton striker Victor Anichebe has accused police officers of trying to grab his crutches to stop him "escaping" when he was wrongly accused of attempting to rob a jewellers.

Premiership 2006/2007 Victor Anichebe Everton - 0

Anichebe issued a strongly-worded statement through his club after Cheshire Police apologised for the incident in the affluent town of Knutsford, Cheshire.

The 20-year-old Nigeria international said the police apology did not go far enough.

"Whilst I do fully understand Cheshire Police's desire to tackle the problem of robberies on jewellery shops in the Knutsford area, I remain deeply upset and very angry about the treatment which was meted out to myself and a friend," he said.

"We were doing no more than window-shopping when we found ourselves surrounded by police officers who accused us of 'attempted theft'.

"Sadly, even when I explained who I was and what I was doing, they continued to treat both of us as not just suspects but as criminals.

"It was not only totally ridiculous but also highly embarrassing and totally humiliating.

"Simply because we stood our ground and insisted that we had done absolutely nothing wrong, they decided to place my friend in handcuffs. I am currently having to use crutches to walk as I recently underwent surgery on a knee injury and - astonishingly - one of the officers even tried to grab the crutches in order to prevent me from 'escaping'.

"After what seemed like an eternity the police officers seemed to realise that they had made a mistake, acknowledging that I was a footballer with a Premiership club and not someone who was preparing to commit a crime.

"At the time, I asked the officers if they would have taken the action they did had I been white rather than black. Whilst I do not wish to turn this unfortunate and unnecessary incident into a race issue, I believe it is a question that does need to be asked."

Anichebe said that while he welcomed the police apology he did not feel "it constitutes the unreserved apology we were seeking and which we believe is justified under the circumstances".

An Everton spokesman had confirmed earlier Anichebe and his friend were peering in the window of a jewellers when police pounced, believing the pair were scouting the premises.

He said a row had ensued before the pair were released when officers realised their mistake.

Cheshire Police said closed circuit TV operators were monitoring jewellers in Knutsford and the surrounding area following a spate of violent robberies and had reported that Anichebe and his friend were acting suspiciously.

Reuters

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  1. brooksie6870 I am not suprised of your comment about­ abiodun F because u are a racist youself.All blacks are­ thugs right? Telling somebody u are not a thief vs­ somebody who physically assulted a public officer.­ Commonsense is lacking in your line of arguement but of­ course you dont have any. So common sense is not commom­ to you

    From abiodun, on Thu 12 Mar 4:14PM

  2. 'igwe g' SHUT THE FU-CK UP!!! You are the only­ idiot on here. I don't think your a
    pr-ick because­ your foreign, you are a pr-ick because your getting on­ everyone's nerves. You obviously hate the police­ but don't pre judge every white person aswell. You­ know nothing you di-ck! '99% of white people are­ racist' MY AR-SE!!!

    From brooksie6870, on Thu 12 Mar 4:07PM

  3. Hey, I'm an open minded girl from UK, I'm­ interested in exotic things, photography, dating and­ sports...I have my photos on --- T a l l h u b Co m­ ---, I love tall guys!
    Do you love traveling and have­ some experience? Just find me out.

    From leomeisi06, on Thu 12 Mar 3:41PM

  4. tom.ward18 you are an idiot, how many black police­ officers have you seen today in the UK. What do you­ mean "if this was a white man cuffed by a­ black­ police officer and white people came on this site­ and­ played the race card would black people agree with­ us­ or say we are being racist against a black police­­ officer" I have lived in UK for 5 years and I have­ never seen a black police officer, so if you want my­ sympathy your just a dreamer. Racist Punk

    From Godwin, on Thu 12 Mar 3:29PM

  5. (tom.ward18) the end of your (comment#93) is reasonable­ and acceptable but your earlier comments and the likes­ of(long_moor05) are really disgusting and portray a­ message from somebody who hates Blacks,Africans,Asian­ and caribbeans!

    Nobody likes to play race card but­ those earlier comments can make someone to feel­ racially abuse!

    From BADI, on Thu 12 Mar 3:22PM

  6. Am sure is Anichebe was not on cluches, the police­ would have gunned him down, A big shame

    From Godwin, on Thu 12 Mar 3:08PM

  7. Well Everton club wants to play it down, that is why­ they are demanding an apology. The police have shown­ how unrealaible and stupid they are again. Really it­ seems dumb peole get employed into the police in UK

    From Godwin, on Thu 12 Mar 3:05PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tom.ward18, just listen to your statment, you are­ really a low life who depends on the tax people like­ Anichebe pays to survive. Yeah like I say 99% of whites­ are racist they just pretend cos of the severe legal­ laws.

    From Godwin, on Thu 12 Mar 3:01PM

  9. obviously the current porfiling laws are not working.­ Instead of Anichebe asking for an apology, he should­ file a lawsuit against the Jewelry store in­ question......money talks and bull @#$% walks

    From starman_123, on Thu 12 Mar 3:00PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Britain is a racist country period!!!!!!!, Okay let all­ the brits leave Asia, Africa, South America,North­ America, Carribeans, rest of europe and come and live­ in @#$% britain, see, they can't. Brits really mess­ up outside britian. Mr tom.ward18, am sure u were doing­ illegal stuff in Africa when they abused you.

    From Godwin, on Thu 12 Mar 2:57PM

  11. Does being 'honest' mean you cant be a racist?­ Strange how someone who claims not to be a racist feels­ so comfortable using the 'N' word. tomward18-­ get a life!!!!!!!!!

    From Anthony J, on Thu 12 Mar 2:51PM

  12. kas_py maybe you should read the article too before­ making an asinine statement. The CCTV operator called­ the police because he was doing his? Well obviously he­ must not have doing his job, did he miss that Anichebe­ was on crutches. I have just got to say the ploice­ responding to this have got to be the REALLY stupid for­ not recognizing how a man disabled man be acting­ suspiciously.

    From starman_123, on Thu 12 Mar 2:51PM

  13. Police officers go out their way to be total idiots ,­ no wonder no-one has respect for them anymore . I­ suppose it is to be expected , don't people realise­ that if they were that clever then they would not be­ Police . How many times do you see headlines like­ "Bungling Cops" and "Police­ Baffled" there are obviously a few good ones but­ there is a huge hole in the recruitment net that lets­ all the dross through . Muppets like this lot set us­ back 10 years doing things like this .

    From alex m, on Thu 12 Mar 2:39PM

  14. 'edward w' you should write a book!! You still­ talk a lot of rubbish though!

    From brooksie6870, on Thu 12 Mar 2:38PM

  15. badilawal im not racist just honest

    From Frosty, on Thu 12 Mar 2:32PM

  16. (tom.ward18), why are you so dispassionate about­ Blacks, Africa or Asia people?

    Even you language and­ choice of words "you Ni*gers are­ worse than­ white" are disgusting and it is a prove that you­ are A RACIST OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

    Since have been in­ UK, I have lived with so many whites and really­ impressed with their behaviour and their language which­ makes me feel that they are NOT racists but in your own­ case, I am really convinced that you are nothing but a­ STUPID RACIST!

    From BADI, on Thu 12 Mar 2:29PM

  17. well well it seems u guys dont like truthful comments,­ u did not post my last comment,
    All i want to say is­ tomward is a naziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

    From solarabus, on Thu 12 Mar 2:29PM

  18. Albey longmoor05- your grammar is to say the least very­ low grade for an Englishman, and this is not isolated­ to you alone, it is a growing trend in Britain,­ especially among chavs and low lives like you. It is­ only a matter of time before the likes of me and­ countless other Africans and Asians if I may say, will­ be begged by the govt to teach you good grammar and­ what do we get in reward, rotten tomatoes as usual. If­ you want all non-whites to leave Britain, why don't­ you try reversing history to the period when there was­ no trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, the English­ flooding Australia with their undesirables, what about­ New Zealand, The United States, Canada and South­ America, where whites never existed until so-called­ missionaries intruded on the pristine lives of the­ people of these lands. Come to think of it you English­ are no longer Christians and the onus is now on African­ Christians to curtail the violent advance of extremist­ Muslims, I bet you if we all leave, YOU ARE DOOMED!!!

    From edward, on Thu 12 Mar 2:24PM

  19. hav'nt the police up there got enough car thieving­ scousers to worry about......instead of nicking their­ players?? lol

    From Wayne, on Thu 12 Mar 2:24PM

  20. They were the s hit footballer police arresting him for­ being a s hit footballer!!

    From Richard, on Thu 12 Mar 2:20PM
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