A British IT contractor, Jon Richelieu-Booth, was arrested by West Yorkshire Police after posting a photo on LinkedIn showing him holding a shotgun at a friend’s property in Florida — triggering a long and stressful legal ordeal before prosecutors ultimately dropped the case.
Richelieu-Booth said he posted the photo in August while visiting the U.S., but within days local police showed up at his home and issued a warning about the image’s potential to intimidate others. Despite the photo being taken in the U.S. — a detail Richelieu-Booth attempted to demonstrate via geolocation data — officers told him the proving the location was “not necessary.”
Eleven days after the post, he was arrested and initially charged with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, as well as an alleged stalking offence tied to a different photo of a house on his profile. Over the next four months, he says, he endured repeated visits from law enforcement while his life was under scrutiny.
Ultimately, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) discontinued the case, concluding there was insufficient evidence to secure a realistic conviction. The sudden collapse of the charges left Richelieu-Booth frustrated and critical of British policing practices, comparing his experience to the arrest of comedian Graham Linehan — calling it “1984 writ large.”
Despite the collapse of the initial case, Richelieu-Booth said he is now facing a separate public‑order charge related to a different social media post — though he claims he has not been informed of the content in question. He said he intends to sue the police for the “13 weeks of hell” he endured and will seek substantial damages.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said the original complaint alleged stalking using social-media images that alarmed the complainant. “We investigated and charged a man with a public order offence but the case was then discontinued by the CPS,” the spokesperson said.
The case highlights tensions in Britain’s strict gun laws — which include tight licensing requirements and bans on many firearms — and raises questions about how social-media photographs are interpreted in legal contexts. At least one high-ranking government official, Shabana Mahmood, has recently criticized what many see as overreach: in April she said police should not be spending time arresting people over social‑media posts.
As Richelieu-Booth gears up for a lawsuit, the broader debate over free expression, privacy, and policing of online content continues to intensify across the UK.
