11:05pm UK, Friday February 26, 2010

Roddy Mansfield, Sky News Online

A man who took a picture of his son while they were out shopping was accused of being a paedophile and threatened with arrest.

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Kevin Geraghty-Shewan had taken four-year-old Ben to the Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland to spend £10 the boy had been given as a treat.

He told Sky News: "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.

 

The picture Kevin took of son Ben at the Bridges shopping centre, Sunderland

"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."

 

The security guard who 'caught' Kevin taking a picture of Ben

Mr Geraghty-Shewan was so outraged by the incident, he posted a picture of the security guarde on his website.

When contacted by Sky News the Bridges said in a statement: "We take the safety at all our shopping centres very seriously.

"We do ask our security guards across the estate to be diligent in implementing our security measures, which includes monitoring photography in our centres.

"Unfortunately on this occasion what should have been a simple polite conversation led to a misunderstanding and we apologise for any offence caused.

"It is always our aim to implement our security procedures with the minimum of fuss and disruption to our shoppers."