A former Downing Street attendant has accused two street ‘rangers’ working for a local business group in a cathedral city of ‘robbing’ her 15-year-old black son in a Superdrug store.
The boy, whose mother Kirsty Buchanan was an assistant to Number 10, was forcibly detained by the two men on the floor of the shop in Chichester, West Sussex.
Footage posted by Ms Buchanan on Twitter showed the two men holding the teenager to the ground while handcuffing him before police arrived.
She said: ‘This is my 15-year-old black son who was followed while shopping for shampoo by two council workers called game wardens. He was assaulted by them, then sat down and handcuffed by them. When the Sussex Police arrived, guess who they arrested?
Sussex Police are now investigating and said a 15-year-old boy from Worthing and a 16-year-old boy from Chichester were arrested on suspicion of assault. Superdrug claimed that female staff were assaulted and the store had to be closed due to the damage.
The two men are ‘rangers’ for the Chichester Business Improvement District, which works in partnership with the council. The IDB said they act as “the eyes and ears on the street and a reassuring presence for those on the front lines of petty crime.”
The IDB describes itself as a business-driven initiative that is ‘independent of local authorities and other legal agencies and delivers projects beyond the basic services provided by them’.
Ms Buchanan urged the IDB to contact her about the ‘behaviour’ of the rangers, telling her on Twitter: ‘Surely you can’t tolerate the way my son has been treated?’
The boy was forcibly detained by two men on the floor of the shop in Chichester, West Sussex.
Ms. Buchanan told the daily mirror that the rangers were aggressive towards his son and his friends, saying: ‘What I have been told is that the ranger pushed him and my son pushed him back…they put plastic handcuffs on him; the police came and arrested my son.’
Ms Buchanan, once a political editor at the Sunday Express and also a former adviser to Theresa May and Liz Truss, said she did not hear from her son for an hour and a half while he was detained at Worthing police station.
The boy’s mother, Kirsty Buchanan, was a political editor at the Sunday Express and was an adviser to Theresa May and Liz Truss.
Ms Buchanan also said her son had regularly experienced racist incidents and had been stopped and searched many times.
She tweeted last night: ‘So @sussex_police have a no hold policy. My son is still in custody and has not yet been interviewed.
‘I have been told by a senior officer that the police have not yet recovered the Superdrug camera footage. Why the hell not?
She later revealed that her son, who is due to take six tests in a few weeks, left police custody at 1:15am this morning before going home.
A Sussex Police spokesperson told MailOnline yesterday: “We are aware of a video circulating on social media of a teenager being detained by civil security personnel in Chichester this afternoon (March 22).
The men involved are ‘rangers’ from the Chichester Business Improvement District in the city.
The boy’s mother, Kirsty Buchanan, said security guards “dunk” her son into the ground.
Police were called to the store on East Street shortly after 3:30 p.m. due to reports of a group of teenagers involved in an altercation.
A store worker also reported being assaulted. The agents went to the place and three adolescents had been detained by civil security personnel.
‘A 15-year-old boy from Worthing and a 16-year-old boy from Chichester were arrested by police on suspicion of assault.
‘They remain in police custody pending urgent investigations, with the support of appropriate adults. Investigations are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what happened.
Superdrug revealed that female staff were assaulted and the store in Chichester had to close
A Superdrug spokesperson told MailOnline yesterday: ‘An incident occurred at our Chichester store today between Chichester BID Rangers and a group of young men who were monitoring.
‘Unfortunately, the female staff were also assaulted. This is now a police matter and we are offering our full assistance to Sussex Police.
‘Our priority is always to keep our colleagues and clients safe, we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violence and assault. The store remains closed due to damage caused.’
And a Chichester District Council spokesman said: “We have been made aware of an incident that took place in the city of Chichester today and we wish to clarify that no Chichester District Council staff were involved.”
MailOnline has contacted the Chichester Business Improvement District for comment.
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