'I AM A VICTIM OF
STATE TERRORISM': CARL WAGNER
Source: Hull
Daily Mail, UK
Pub Date: Wednesday
17 December 2003
Subj: 'I AM A VICTIM OF STATE TERRORISM'
Author: A Young ayoung@hulldailymail.co.uk
Web: http://www.thisishull.co.uk
Contact:
letters@hulldailymail.co.uk
Carl Wagner http://www.ccguide.org/lca//people.php
'I AM A VICTIM
OF STATE TERRORISM'
One of the
city's best known pro-cannabis campaigners today claimed he is the victim of
"state terrorism" after being arrested in a police swoop.
A dozen police
officers in full riot gear raided market stallholder Carl Wagner's house in
Victoria Square, off Ella Street, west Hull, on Monday.
Mr Wagner, 44,
was handcuffed and held in Priory Road police station for 11 hours before being
released on bail without being charged.
He was arrested
on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
The raid came
after police secured a search warrant from city magistrates.
But Mr Wagner
told the Mail: "I will fight any charges that might be brought against me.
"They
turned my house upside down, absolutely terrified my wife and three-year-old
daughter and came away with just four plants and about an ounce of weed."
He claimed the
warrant had been obtained after an anonymous tip-off that he was in possession
of crack cocaine.
"When my
solicitor told me about the crack cocaine I was completely gobsmacked," he
said.
"More
damaging for me is that they have also seized my takings from the stall, my
computer and my mobile phone.
"They have
made it virtually impossible for me to function as a trader. It was pure state
terrorism designed to destroy my business and my family.
"The police
know perfectly well I always have cannabis on me. All they had to do was knock
on my door or ring me up and ask to see it."
Mr Wagner has
run a stall in Hull's indoor Trinity Market selling cannabis and hemp-related
products for the past two years.
He also stood
for parliament as a Legalise Cannabis Alliance candidate in the last General
Election in the Hull North constituency.
"I am
convinced what happened is part of an organised witch hunt.
"My wife
was totally humiliated by the experience and my daughter was left wondering why
police officers were searching through her toys and sweets.
"I have to
ask what benefit they got from scaring the life out of my wife and child and
locking me up in a cell for eight hours."
A police spokeswoman declined to identify Mr Wagner but added: "A 44-year-old man from the Ella Street area was arrested on suspicion of intent to supply. He has been released on police bail for a week."