Retired policeman wrongly arrested over 'thought crime' X post wins £20,000 payout
A retired policeman who was wrongly arrested over a social media post warning of a rise in anti-Semitism has won £20,000 in compensation.
Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, was detained at his home by six officers from Kent Police - the very same force he had given ten years of his life to - after he questioned a supporter of pro-Palestine demonstrations on X in November 2023.
In the context of a rise in protests at the start of the Israel-Hamas war - and reports of an anti-Semitic mob storming a Russian airport - Mr Foulkes tweeted an activist: 'One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…'
Mr Foulkes was later handcuffed on his own doorstep by uniformed officers equipped with batons and pepper spray.
Officers searched his home and made comments on his 'very Brexity' book collection, before detaining the 71-year-old for eight hours.
This month, Kent Police confirmed the caution was a mistake and had been removed from Mr Foulkes's record.
In a letter sent to Mr Foulkes' solicitors, the force has now repeated an apology from the chief constable Tim Smith for the 'distress caused by the actions of his officers'.
It also confirmed Kent Police would agree to an out-of-court settlement after Mr Foulkes launched a legal challenge for wrongful arrest and detention.
The letter, sent by a lawyer for the force, read: 'I am instructed to accept the offer of early resolution without recourse to litigation by payment of compensation in the sum of £20,000 plus your client's reasonable legal fees in full and final settlement of all prospective claims arising from his arrest on Nov 2, 2023.'
Mr Foulkes told The Telegraph that although he was 'naturally pleased' that Kent Police had apologised, it was 'never about money'.
'For me, it was a simple matter of right and wrong and I now need to see that the full investigation I have been promised takes place and necessary actions are taken to prevent any recurrence,' he said.
Previously, Mr Foulkes spoke to MailOnline to reveal he had accepted an offer from the Free Speech Union to fund a lawsuit against Kent Police for wrongful arrest and detention.
He said: 'This is absolutely an Orwellian-style thought crime. It's absolutely ridiculous because I sent a tweet which was reasonable in the circumstances and it was a tweet based on events I'd read about just the previous day and in the previous week.
'It was taken out of context and I really can't go through all the failings of Kent police - as much as I'd like to - but it's been quite astonishing to me especially as I served with them for 10 years.'
Kent Police misinterpreted his tweet as being anti-Jewish but has since removed the caution from Mr Foulkes' record as well as his biometric data that was stored in police files.
Mr Foulkes said previously: 'I sat on it for nine months or so wondering what to do - whether to go public but decided it was best to speak out.
'Career-wise it's not going to hurt me. At my age, I've got no plans to work again so that's not something that affects me.
'In practical terms the worst thing was the injustice and that's the thing I wanted to tackle because there's right and wrong - and I knew they were wrong.
'I got the right result in getting the caution overturned and it's not something Kent Police - indeed any police force do very often.'
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