Man 'paedophile suspect' for taking son's photo in shopping centre

A security guard branded Kevin Geraghty-Shewan a 'paedophile suspect' for taking his son's photo at Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland. The father had taken four-year-old Ben to the Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland to spend £10 Ben had been given as a treat. Geraghty-Shewan went to take a photo of his son on a ride and was suddenly stopped.

"Ben spotted a children's ride which had a train on it and wanted to have a go because he's obsessed with trains. When he got on my wife suggested we take a picture of him. I took the picture on my phone and suddenly this security guard came up and told me it wasn't allowed because I could be a paedophile.



"I told him Ben was my own son. But he said I couldn't prove it. He said there is a real problem with paedophiles and that if I didn't like it, he'd call the manager. A few minutes later a policeman walked in and approached me, so they must have been tracking me on the CCTV. He said he'd received a complaint that a man matching my description was taking pictures of children and wanted my name and address.

"I told him it was ridiculous because it was my own son. He then started asking me what I was doing in Sunderland, asked for my name and address and told me he had the right to delete my pictures. I got annoyed and raised my voice a bit, then he threatened me with arrest for breach of the peace."

There's a news video on this page.