Coincidence saw man wrongly jailed over Thetford migrant riots

In an exclusive interview with the EDP, James Jobson said he believed pressure from politicians led to police and prosecutors pursuing him even though they had no evidence he was involved. The 62-year-old, who worked as a cleaner for Home Office contractor Serco, was accused of running a Facebook page called the HMO Inspector, which posted images from inside houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs) in Thetford which were being used by migrants. Mr Jobson has spoken exclusively to the EDP (Image: Supplied) Shortly after the posts were published, the properties were targeted by groups of angry locals, prompting violent scenes which saw asylum seekers were escorted out of the houses by police. Officers believe the posts helped spark the riots and because Mr Jobson had cleaned at least one of the houses of which images were uploaded he was charged with misconduct in a public office, despite his protestations of innocence and a lack of any other evidence. He spent six nights in prison, during which time the account continued to post messages, prompting police and prosecutors to finally accept he was not responsible. Mr Jobson – who says he struggles to even use Facebook - said the case against him was rushed, because police were so keen to make a charge following the disorder. 'It wasn't me doing all those posts and all that rubbish they were throwing at me. "I think the police thought they had got their person so quick and just wanted a quick result. "They had word from Westminster that they needed to sort it out as quick as possible." FIRST ARREST The roots of the extraordinary case date back to Monday, August 3, when Mr Jobson was sent to Thetford by his employer, Serco. He had worked for the firm for nine months, cleaning properties across East Anglia which were used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers. It was a routine job but the following night disorder broke out in the town as locals angry about migrants being housed in their community – with the prospect of more than 1,000 more to be moved to nearby RAF Barnham – protested outside HMOs being used by asylum seekers. Disorder broke out again in Thetford for three consecutive nights (Image: SWNS) The riots continued for three nights. Mr Jobson saw reports of the disorder on the news and made his boss aware that Serco properties had been targeted. He said he then just 'carried on with my week as normal'. However, as he returned to his home in Costessey with his wife Lisa, at about 11pm on Friday, 7, following a visit to their daughter's, he found four police officers waiting for him. They told him he was being arrested 'on suspicion of involvement in the Thetford rioting and inciting racial hatred'. Police standing in front of a Thetford HMO during the disorder (Image: Supplied) He was taken to Wymondham police station for questioning, as officers stayed to search his house and work van, taking his work devices and mobile phone in for tests. He spent the night in a 'horrific' holding cell before being questioned the following morning. Police accused him of running the HMO Inspector Facebook account, which they claimed had been a factor in sparking the riots. Mr Jobson was held at Norfolk Constabulary's headquarters in Wymondham (Image: Archant Norfolk Photographic © 2016) Mr Jobson said he initially did not want a lawyer for the interview, as he thought it would imply he had something to hide. 'I even said, 'Do I need a solicitor?' They asked if I wanted one. I said, 'No, I don't need one. I haven't done anything'," he said. "The whole time in my mind I'm thinking, 'if you need solicitors and other people, then it feels as though I'm already guilty.' He was released without charge and went back home, where he later learned he had been suspended by Serco. SECOND ARREST Following Mr Jobson's release, the HMO Inspector continued to post messages, including one on Thursday, August 13, which said the individual behind the account had been arrested and released. The same post added that in a few days time the account would publish the address of every migrant HMO in Norwich. The day after that post, on Friday, August 14, police returned to Mr Jobson's home and arrested him again. James Jobson has compared his prosecution to a 'kangaroo court' (Image: Supplied) Officers accused him of breaching his bail by posting the messages. He said when he first answered his door to the police, he had assumed they were there to tell him the investigation into him had been dropped. 'I opened the door and asked them: 'So everything's all okay now?' 'They said no, and then they put the cuffs back on and took me in." Police carried out further searches of the home, deploying sniffer dogs, and removed at least 12 more devices, including his wife's dashcam and her personal laptop. During his questioning, Mr Jobson was shown print-outs of posts from the HMO Inspector and asked whether he was the reflection seen in a shower door in one of the videos. 'I thought to myself while I was in there, 'It seems a bit Mickey Mouse, this'. 'It was like a kangaroo court in a police station." Mr Jobson had worked for Serco for nine months (Image: Supplied) He said his lawyer told him it looked like there was pressure on the police to solve the case. "He sort of said to me, he said, 'I've got to be honest, and it's not looking good. I don't think you're going get bail. "He said, 'They've had it from Westminster that obviously they've got to be seen to be doing something, right? They've got to be seen as though they're acting on this. They want a quick result.'' Following his second arrest, Mr Jobson's in-laws, who were five days into a 'once-in-a-lifetime' two-week cruise around the Mediterranean, cut their holiday short and got on the next flight back to Norfolk. COURT APPEARANCE Mr Jobson was charged with misconduct in a public office and held in a cell at Wymondham until Monday, August 17, when he was taken to Norwich Magistrates' Court. Here, prosecutors outlined their case against him. They argued Mr Jobson was the 'common link' as he had cleaned at Thetford properties that were later targeted and had posted videos of HMOs online. They also said he had continued to post on the account after his initial arrest. Despite his defence pointing out inconsistencies in the case – including that the HMO Inspector referred to his lawyer being a man, while Mr Jobson's initial representative had been a woman – he was remanded in custody and sent to Norwich prison. After he was told the news and was being taken away by security guards he crumpled to the floor. PRISON In the week between his arrests, Mr Jobson had told his wife: 'If I get put away, I won't be coming out. I won't be able to get through it. 'I just thought I knew I was innocent, it felt so corrupt I thought I wasn't going to get out,' he said. Mr Jobson spent six nights in HMP Norwich (Image: Newsquest) At the Knox Road jail, he was given his own cell. 'I can't emphasise that enough. I couldn't do it with another person in there. I would be so petrified." Mr Jobson takes nine forms of medication after suffering a stroke in 2012 and requires three doses, every day. He claims he did not receive his first medicine until 'about three days in' and then only received the next dose on the day of his release. Mr Jobson was kept in his own cell (Image: Archant © 2009) This left him hallucinating, 'seeing spiders climbing up the wall' and 'flashing and wobbling' in his eyes. As he battled those symptoms, he also had to acclimatise to the realities of life inside. 'In there there's murderers, rapists, paedophiles, just every criminal,' he said. 'I was in there with all of them. He says he saw a body being taken out on one day and a number of other incidents which 'frightened the s**t out of me'. 'You couldn't sleep because of the noise,' he said. Norwich prison houses around 750 prisoners (Image: Newsquest) His solicitor had warned him not to tell fellow inmates why he was in prison, so instead he told them he had been accused of fraud. "I spoke when I got spoken to, because obviously I don't know who's who but I thought I've got to try and interact," he said. "There was one guy and I just thought, 'he's not believing me'. But maybe it was my paranoia." However, the truth emerged after his name and photo appeared in the media following coverage of his arrest. 'So one afternoon, someone came up to the hole in my cell door and started banging. 'He says 'you're not in here for fraud, I've just seen you on BBC, Sky and Capital Radio'. 'I had to say, 'well did it not mention the fraud too? 'As if it wasn't bad enough with the paranoia, the anxiety and everything else, I'm now thinking, oh, they might be thinking I'm a paedophile. 'All these sorts of things were going on. But I had to just focus on getting through the time. Someone said I might be getting five years. 'I cried so many tears that I think I've run out.' In his time time inside, Mr Jobson sent 27 letters to his family, using up the ink in four pens. He said only one had been received, and that was after he had got home. FREEDOM Forty eight hours after he was sent to prison, the HMO Inspector posted a message saying: 'I'm not in jail, just being careful after what happened to the honourable man who is. (Image: Facebook) 'I have no connection to him' and 'I have never met him,' the message added. The EDP spotted these posts and contacted police, while Mr Jobson's family did the same. 'During that week, we were keeping an eye on that HMO site and then obviously we started seeing things get posted again,' said wife Lisa, who works as a GP receptionist. The account threatened to post more HMOs (Image: Facebook) 'As soon as we started seeing these posts go back on Facebook again, I emailed the police and the solicitor to say, 'Well, how can it be him then?'' Police announced late on the evening of Friday, August 21, that all charges against Mr Jobson were being dropped. However, he was not informed until 24 hours later. Mr Jobson said he had heard rumours from other inmates, who had heard reports on the news. 'I thought they were doing it as a joke," he said. "I thought I'm not going home. It must be a wind-up. 'But then a guard came up to my room at 9pm on Saturday night and banged on the glass and said, 'Get yourself ready, you're going home'. That was the first time I knew for sure." The 62-year-old found out the charges had been dropped via inmates (Image: Facebook) He was put in a taxi and taken home to his family, who had assumed he would not be home until Monday. His wife had called the prison on Saturday morning to ask why he had not been freed but was told he would not be let out until the following week because 'nothing happens over the weekend'. Mrs Jobson said: 'We were pulling our hair out, and when I heard someone at the door I thought it was going to be the police again. "We obviously didn't know who it was going to be. And when I opened the door, I heard his voice and that was it. It was the first time I'd seen or heard him in six days. "I was just so happy and just so relieved to see him. For those two weeks, I just thought like our world had been turned upside down. 'I don't think we went to sleep till about half five, six o'clock in the morning. I was just so scared to go to sleep because I thought I'm going to wake up and it's a dream and he's not really here.' AFTERMATH Mr Jobson said his ordeal had left him and his wife 'riddled with anxiety'. He flinches at vehicles that pass his house while his wife often breaks down while out driving the car. The couple – who moved to Norfolk from Essex in May last year in order to spend more time with their grandchildren - are awaiting GP appointments which they hope will help manage the stress. They have installed cameras outside their home and fear that they are being recognised anytime they leave. Mr Jobson, who describes himself as "a chirpy, chappy person," now battles constant paranoia. He now refuses to use social media in any form. His wife said the very idea he could have been responsible for the Facebook messages was absurd. 'They thought he'd been putting things online, and there was nothing from him,' she said. Multiple properties were damaged during the disorder in Thetford (Image: Joe Giddens / PA) "He hasn't even used Facebook. He doesn't know how to use a computer." Every unexpected knock on the door now triggers a fear that the police are coming back to 'take him inside again'. "It's always going to be there," he said. "It's never going to go away. We've got to try and get back to some sort of normal, but it's just not easy. That's always going to be there. Always." Mrs Jobson is on leave from her job as a GP receptionist. The couple have to pay solicitor fees of up to £1,250. They say they have not yet decided whether to pursue legal action against the Crown Prosecution Service. THE HMO INSPECTOR Investigations by the EDP have found that the man behind the account lives in Blackburn and, while a Serco cleaner, had only been to Thetford once. It is not clear if he has been arrested. Norfolk Constabulary said officers had continued to examine Mr Jobson's devices after he was sent to prison and that a review 'identified no evidence' linking him with the HMO Inspector account. The force said these investigations led to a conversation with the CPS on Thursday, August 20, which led to the charge being dropped.