Kibo …

About an hour ago our local air ambulance landed in a park near my house. Being the alert photographer that I am, I grabbed my camera and headed off to see what was going on.

It seems that an elderly gentleman had had some sort of accident on a driveway, though I don’t know any more detail. As he was wheeled off in a chair he was awake, alert and had his leg in a splint. Nothing particularly serious, I imagine.

As the paramedics were loading the patient in to the helicopter I continued to photograph the scene, before being approached by a rather angry looking chap. Phrases such as “Delete those or I’ll knock you out in front of that lot” and “Publish those and I’ll sue you” spewed forth, even though I made it clear that I was in a public place, he was in a public place, and, as a British citizen, I was perfectly within my rights and the law to be there taking photographs. I was shooting at 200-300mm so I was a fair way off (> 50 metres). He was having none of it.

As he seemed to be a bit of a meathead, not that bright, and with an entourage of about 6 chavesque kids and a couple of mates, I decided to walk away.

I shot a few more before as the helicopter was taking off, during which time I was shouted at by someone else, probably Meathead’s wife or the injured man’s daughter. She didn’t look the sort you’d want to introduce to your parents but did renew my belief that some people shouldn’t be allowed to breed.

As I made my way in a direction that took me away from my house (deliberately), Meathead continued after me, hoodied chavkids in tow, so I decided to make a run for it. I’m reasonably fit and can cover a long distance at a good pace, and figured that I’d rather go for a sprint than have my kit damaged.

While trying to figure out the best way home so that I wouldn’t run in to trouble I decided to pop in to the local police station to report it. The station was closed.

I haven’t deleted any of the images, and after the threats and abuse I took “mugshots” of the people who were threatening me I’m tempted to forward one of the action shots of the paramedics in action to our local paper, without my name, of course. Although I appreciate that it’s a sensitive issue for the family, two of the people involved threatened me with both legal action (very funny) and physical violence so I feel little sympathy for them.

As it was a major incident (five police cars, a doctor, two fire engines, and a helicopter) it’s bound to have been photographed by other people who may well send their photos to the press, possibly leaving me at risk. Now, I appreciate that it was an emotional, highly-charged moment for the family (I could tell because several of them were smoking while the paramedics were in attendance) but should I report this to the police?