Thursday 12 March 2009, 17:47
by Craig Davies @YourEverton
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Victor Anichebe has revealed he is 'humiliated and embarrassed' after being stopped by the police on Wednesday.
The Everton forward was stopped by police, as he was looking in a jeweller shop's window in Knutsford.
A friend of Anichebe was then placed in handcuffs following suspicions the duo were part of a series of violent robberies targetting jewellers in the area.
The police have since issued an apology and Victor has released the following statement regarding the incident:
"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 yesterday (Wednesday).
"We were doing no more than window-shopping when we found ourselves surrounded by Police officers who accused us of attempting to steal watches. Both myself and my friend, Lee, were accused, by Cheshire Police officers, 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."
Anichebe is currently on crutches after undergoing knee surgery on an injury picked up against Newcastle last month.
And the Nigerian striker explained that he almost had them taken off him during questioning.
"It was not only totally ridiculous but also highly embarrassing and totally humiliating," his statement continued. "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 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 which does need to be asked.
"I am pro-Police - always have been and always will be. However, on this occasion they clearly got things badly wrong.
"Whilst both myself and my friend welcome the statement which has been issued by Cheshire Police this afternoon, we do not feel it constitutes the unreserved apology we were seeking and which we believe is justified under the circumstances."
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The views below are submitted by registered users of evertonfc.com and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton Football Club.
Louise Davies
This is a absoltue disgrace by the Police. Accusing him and his mate. The police need to get there act together. He derserves a full apology.
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Tuesday 17th Mar 2009 15:28
Agree with Louise?
Spencer Ramsay
This is madness! If the police think that looking in a jewellers shop window amounts to a 'reasonable suspicion' to commit attempted theft then they seriously need to go back to training school (!!) otherwise no-one is going to be safe in the High Street on a Saturday afternoon. Vic and his friend have every right to be angry and I hope further action is taken against the police. They were clearly acting over-zealously on this occassion and without any reasonable basis. Also, how the hell did the police think Vic was going to make a run for it??!! It would have been the shortest and slowest police chase in history!!
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 13:43
Agree with Spencer?
Anna Howlin
Black or white, this is distracefully behaviour from the Police. This is a classic example of disrespect for the human rights of someone who was merely shopping with a friend. With regards to the crutches element, if it wasn't so horrendous I would think it was a joke... pushes the boundaries of disrespect over the edge.
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 12:55
Agree with Anna?
tom king
vic dont worry matey! just score a cracker when your back and have a t-shirt on under your jersey with a message to the police officer who was obviously a jelous liverpool fan who was just saw u played for us and no them!!!
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 12:10
Agree with tom?
Wayne Hudson
Feel for you Victor. It has happened to me (some time ago now though) It's not a nice experience and i was checked out before any accusations and sent on my way. Why couldn't they just check on you before accusing you? Very unprofesional.
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 11:13
Agree with Wayne?
Chris Young
There was obviously a major error of judgement and Victor has every right to feel aggrieved by the actions of these officers. However, I do not feel that we should get carried away rearding the race issue. Yes, he is a young black man walking around a predominantly white area and was stopped. But how many times have we as middle aged white men and women walked past a group of white youths and wondered whether we were on for a hiding. Don't agree with what the police have done, but we should treat it for the incident it is. (Chris, not a police officer)
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 11:03
Agree with Chris?
It's clearly wrong what happened to Vic, particularly the crutches thing, that's ridiculous. However, in light of some the comments below, I feel I should point out (and no I'm not a cop myself) that I know some police, and find them to be very decent people who are not at all racist and who genuinely want to create a better society - and often do this without any thanks. Having said that, the police I know aren't Cheshire police. Thanks goodnight much love.
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 10:26
Agree with ?
Alan Mullally
I think the way in which this happened is an absolute disgrace and I would also agree with Ashley in that the Police apology was not in any way sufficient. I appreciate that the Police can make mistakes and that they are only doing their job in trying to protect us all. However, there are proper and correct ways of doing things. In response to Darren, I'm white and the 1st thing that came to mind when I read about this in the papers was "it wouldn't have happened in the same way if he was white". However Vic, you've shown incredible maturity in all of this and you haven't blown anything out of proportion. What you have done is promote a healty debate which is the way that things should be dealt with...not hatred, retaliation or over-the-top political correctness. It's all about common sense and Victor has shown that he has it in abundance. We should all take note and learn from his reaction. I take my hat off to you sir!!
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 09:57
Agree with Alan?
John Cheevers
Rest assured Vic, by your actions & your words, you have shown yourself to be a proud & sensible young man! Well done Sir!!!
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 09:11
Agree with John?
chris skillicorn
Another typical display of the british justice system and a clear indication that our tax money is being wasted!! Vic a mature and well thought out statement you got your point across without being aggressive, whatever happened to being innoccent before proven guilty?!?! for
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Friday 13th Mar 2009 08:54
Agree with chris?