Man who wrote 'Help' in crayon on police cell wall after 41 hours handed conditional discharge
A Shropshire man has been handed a conditional discharge after magistrates heard that he had used crayons to write over a police cell after being kept in for 41 hours.
The solicitor defending Jack Fraser, aged 30, of Glentworth View, Morda, near Oswestry, pondered whether the Crown Prosecution Service should have brought the case at all after telling Telford magistrates that issues he had been arrested for had been dropped.
Fraser had been charged with criminal damage after the incident in Shrewsbury on November 16, 2023.
Prosecutor Hannah Baddeley told the court on Tuesday that Fraser had been given a book and crayons to help him pass the time. She said he wrote "help" on the walls after he was refused water.
"The cell had to be cleaned and was out of operation for a number of hours," she said.
"Fraser had argued that it was not criminal damage because crayons rub off. He is of previous good character."
Martin McNamara, defending, said he had asked why the CPS had brought the case to court and whether it was in the public interest for such a "trivial" issue to be brought to court.
Mr McNamara said his client was "not a well man" and had been asking to take medication that he needs to take every day.
"He was kept for 41 hours at the police station, which was extended for 12 hours," he said.
"He was acting out of sheer frustration at having no water and his medication. It was a cry for help."
Mr McNamara added that Fraser had offered to rub the crayon off with a wet cloth and had been cleaning the cell when officers came in.
Presiding justice Nicola Hughes handed down a conditional discharge of six months and told Fraser to stay out of trouble for that time.
The CPS had asked for £50 compensation to be given to the police but the three magistrates decided not to impose compensation or costs against Fraser.
They did however order Fraser to pay a £26 victims surcharge.