Harassment, Alarm or Distress just for Filming 🔥📸⚖️🚨🦂

🎬 Public Order Act Section 5 – Police Overreach Explained

Know Your Rights | Episode 16

Can police really threaten you with Section 5 – Harassment, Alarm or Distress just for filming or asserting your rights?

In this episode, we break down a real-world case study involving The Gwent Auditor, where officers attempted to rely on feelings instead of facts to justify a Section 5 threat. Using the exact wording of the law, court rulings, and official police guidance, we examine where Section 5 begins — and where police overreach starts.

This is not opinion. This is law measured against conduct.

⚖️ What This Video Covers

What Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 actually requires
Why “likely to cause distress” is an objective legal test, not a personal feeling
The difference between assertive speech and threatening or abusive behaviour
How Article 10 (Freedom of Expression) protects filming in public
Why reasonable conduct is a statutory defence under Section 5
When misuse of Section 5 may cross into abuse of power (s.26 CJCA 2015)
What to do if police threaten, warn, or misuse Section 5 against you

📚 Case Law & Legal Authorities Referenced

Southard v DPP (2006) – objective test for “likely to cause distress”
Holloway v DPP (2004) – asserting rights ≠ disorderly behaviour
Dehal v CPS (2005) – offensive speech can still be lawful
CPS Charging Standards – Public Order offences
College of Policing – Filming & media guidance
Public Order Act 1986 s.5 & s.5(3)(c)
Human Rights Act – Article 10
Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 s.26

🎯 Key Takeaways

✔ Filming is not harassment
✔ Police discomfort is not a legal threshold
✔ Section 5 has limits and defences
✔ Reasonable conduct defeats misuse
✔ Knowledge changes outcomes

📂 Suggested Playlists

Know Your Rights – Law Explained
Public Order Act & Protest Law
Filming Police & Public Officials (UK Law)
Police Accountability & Misuse of Powers
Case Studies: When Police Get the Law Wrong

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Knowledge = Protection.
This is Scorpion Audits & Know Your Rights

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