Former Monty Python cameraman arrested over satirical posters

A former Monty Python cameraman has been arrested for harassment over a series of homemade satirical posters mocking local councillors.

John Wellard, 71, said the episode was “completely pythonesque” and told the six police officers who arrived at his home on Friday night: “I wasn’t expecting the Spanish Inquisition.”

The pensioner was questioned by police for two hours after the police received complaints that a series of light-hearted posters appearing in Faversham, Kent, amounted to harassment of members of the town council.

Residents have been locked in an on-going dispute with councillors over fears the town’s historic creek area will be developed into expensive flats.

In the last few months, posters have been handed around local pubs and posted through doors, along with brown envelopes stuffed with copies of old Venezuelan banknotes bearing the note: “If you find this message please return it to your councillor.”

^{Bankers questioned by MPs: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" sketch from Monty Python}

One poster depicts a Tory councillor on a donkey riding through the town, while another describes the town’s mayor and other local figures as “a growing problem in the heart of Kent”.

Mr Wellard, who refuses to confirm or deny any involvement in the posters, believes his name had been given to Kent Police because one of the posters involved a joke from the 1979 Monty Python film Life of Brian.

Monty Python's Life of Brian

He told The Mail: “It was completely Pythonesque. Lampoonery and satire have been part of British public life for centuries.

“Why have six policemen threatened to go through my belongings just because a few feathers have been ruffled? Freedom of speech is being whittled away.”

Mr Wellard, who was interviewed under caution at the local police station, chose to give a ‘no comment’ answer to every question.

“It’s irrelevant who’s done what because I do not believe any offence has been committed,” he said.

“I refused to make any comment, not as a measure of my guilt but I don’t believe that I, or anyone else concerned, have done anything wrong.

“In politics people make criticisms and say all kinds of insulting things – if they can’t take the joke they shouldn’t join.

“When the six police were about to search the house I joked that “I wasn’t expecting the Spanish Inquisition”, but it fell a bit flat.

“I don’t think anyone got the reference to a famous Monty Python sketch. At some point I must have been un-arrested because they then told me I wasn’t under arrest.”

Mr Wellard was told a file could be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

^{Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Rex features)}

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "Officers have been investigating reports of collective harassment relating to members of Faversham Town Council.

"It was alleged they had received brown envelopes with fake money and other cards sent to their addresses.

"As a result of those enquiries, officers attended an address in Waterside Close on Friday 24 April to speak with a man in connection with the incident and carry out searches of the property if permitted.

"A 71-year-old man attended a police station voluntarily and was interviewed under caution."

The police spokesman added that the investigation is ongoing.

Faversham councillor Tom Gates, 73, a retired builder, said he and his colleagues believed the posters were a criminal matter.

He told The Mail: “I had one of these brown envelopes through my letterbox. It just got way out of hand. I’ve never been offered a bribe.

“I would certainly like people to be prosecuted. We’re in a democracy but shouldn’t have abuse or derogatory remarks thrown at us.”

Mr Wellard’s neighbour Anna Bales, who saw the police arrive at his home, said: “Merely to disagree with the people running this town has become some sort of crime.

“The council seems to think they can just use the police to stifle criticism as if we’re living in the Soviet Union.”