Restaurant boss put in cell for stopping yobs

A restaurant owner was arrested and held in a cell for five hours for stopping two teenagers who had broken into his beer cellar. Sal Miah, 35, heard a noise in the cellar and when he investigated he saw two teenagers who fled but he pursued them to a park and dragged them back to the restaurant.

However, a gang of their friends began banging on the door and he pushed them away but when police officers arrived they claimed he had attacked them and Mr Miah was taken away. He was driven to the police station, held in a cell for over five hours and had his DNA, fingerprints and police photograph taken.



Mr Miah, who has run the Raj Poot Bangladeshi curry house in Crowborough, East Sussex, for 14 years, said: "I could not believe it - I had stopped a crime from happening and even delivered the suspects to police on a plate. But when they arrived they didn't seem interested in what had happened to my store room and all the beer these boys had tried to steal."

Officers released him go shortly before 4am after handing him a caution for assault and battery, which will stay on his record for five years. He added: "The system is a joke. How can a man who tries to prevent a crime in progress end up being the criminal? It's getting out of hand. People are living in fear of these kind of yobs but when you do take a stand and try and defend your home or your business you end up in trouble. He added: "It's the wrong way round. These boys told the police I had punched them and they believed them."