A PENSIONER who asked a drum-playing neighbour to keep the noise down was taken away by police and locked up in a police cell for more than three hours.

Eighty-year-old Don Macey, of Rambridge Crescent in Bemerton Heath, was arrested on suspicion of common assault after the neighbour called police and accused him of spitting in his face.

But Mr Macey said he didn’t intentionally spit on anyone and is horrified by the way he was treated.

“If he did get spittle on his face, it’s because his face was so close to me. I don’t know if it happened but it’s possible.

“Maybe I’m a bit naïve but I thought it was just a matter of going down to the police station and having a discussion, but it wasn’t like that at all. I was treated as though I had just shot a couple of people.

“The policewoman made me go in the back of the police car, in the caged bit, and slammed the door on me. I was expecting to be taken to an interview room but she took me to the desk where the detention officers are and made me empty my pockets and take off my shoes and I was searched. I was very quiet because I didn’t know what to say.”

Mr Macey was put in a cell for several hours before being fingerprinted, photographed and having a DNA sample taken. He was then put back in a cell again before he was finally interviewed.

“When they said that I could go and no further action would be taken everybody was very friendly, it was a completely different atmosphere. It was quite a shock to my system, I wasn’t expecting that sort of treatment at all.”

Mr Macey went to speak to a neighbour at about 5pm on Thursday to complain about the family’s drum set being played loudly. A row broke out and the family called in police.

“I thought that’s a very good idea, we can get this put right,” said Mr Macey. “They were up here in about three minutes, I’ve never known them react that quickly.”

Mr Macey’s neighbour Peggy Goddard was so upset by the way he was treated, she phoned the police to complain.

She said: “I don’t think it needed to have gone that far. I think it could have been resolved without Mr Macey being locked up. I’m very cross on his behalf.”

David McMullin, Salisbury sector commander for Wiltshire Police, said: “It’s a formal process that we need to go through when any allegations are made.

“Arresting somebody and searching them is an important process because it ensures that their rights and entitlements, such as free legal advice and having someone notified that they have been arrested, are adhered to.

“It can take time for the duty solicitor to be notified and to obtain evidence relating to the allegation before they are interviewed.”