Man Who Fell Off Couch Laughing at TV Show Ends Up Pepper Sprayed, Arrested

Fox News | June 11, 2008

A British man who was so amused with BBC1’s “Have I Got News for You” that he fell off his couch in a fit of laughter was not so happy when it got him arrested and pepper sprayed.

Christopher Cocker, 36, collapsed on the floor after laughing at a joke on TV, but his neighbor who heard the thud thought something bad had happened and called the police, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

According to police, Cocker initially was cooperative but quickly became “aggressive” when asked his name and personal information. Cocker tried to shut his door on the officers, at which point he was pepper sprayed through a crack in the door.

Cocker then was handcuffed, arrested and taken to court, the Daily Mail reported. An unidentified police spokesman told the Mail that, given Cocker’s aggression, they acted appropriately.

“Within the circumstances, we feel we used reasonable force,” the officer told the Mail.

Cocker, of Blackburn, England, eventually pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and was given a conditional discharge for six months following the May 20 incident, the Mail reported.

Cocker is shocked at the outcome of what he describes as minding his own business.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

“I can’t believe it — I was thrown in the back of a police van before being stripped naked and put in a cell,” Cocker told the Mail. “I was handcuffed behind my back and my ankles bound with plastic ties before six of them carried me to the van.”

Cocker told the Mail he never thought he would end up in court for laughing at his favorite comedian.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 6:17 pm

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