WINGS Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell has said that he was questioned by police under threat of arrest over posts he made on social media.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Campbell – who is based in Bath – said that Avon and Somerset Police had brought him in for questioning following a complaint lodged by former police officer Lynsay Watson.
Campbell said that he had been first contacted by the force in April, but heard nothing else before further contact in July.
“In the middle of last month I got another phone call from an unfamiliar number, this time at 1.30am,” he wrote. “It was someone else claiming to be a police officer – this time a male – demanding that I submit to being arrested and hauled off to Keynsham Police Centre about 10 miles away, right there and then, in the middle of the night.”
Campbell said that he had declined to open the door after taking legal advice, and instead got in contact with the Free Speech Union, who arranged for solicitor Daniel Berke to represent him.
The blogger said that Berke “secured an apology [from the police officer] for what he admitted had been ‘inappropriate’ and ‘not ideal’ behaviour the previous evening, and set about arranging a voluntary interview”.
Campbell said he had attended that interview at 3pm on Monday, August 3, but had done so “under protest – having been told that I would definitely be arrested otherwise”.
He then alleged that police had questioned him about two social media posts which appeared to be jokes about Watson “hiding from the police” by living in a caravan, and a third by someone else which contained an AI-generated image of Watson.
Campbell said the interview was then ended, and accused Avon and Somerset Police of spending 10 months “investigating two innocuous, near-identical jokes about a caravan, and a completely unconnected tweet by someone else entirely”.
Avon and Somerset Police have been approached for comment.
The 16-year-old, a trans girl, was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife by two teenagers in Cheshire in February 2023.
Following the murder, Campbell repeatedly used his online platform to label Ghey “he”, in contrast to her family’s wishes.
Two days after the murder, in response to one post saying that Ghey’s death certificate would record her as a boy, Campbell wrote: “Why the fuck does it even matter what's on the death certificate? Who cares?”
Watson responded: “Her family care. Her friends care. I care. You have hurt a lot of people here. Do not misgender that girl ever again.”
Campbell responded: “I’ll call him what I fucking well like, mate.”
Watson complained to Greater Manchester Police about the posts, but the force decided to take no action. Watson then took the force to court, but the case was dismissed.
