Student arrested...for being honest

AN HONEST student who handed in a mobile phone he found was stunned when police arrested him for theft.

PHONE The student handed in a phone he found Pic posed by model PHONE: The student handed in a phone he found /Pic posed by model

Paul Leicester, 18, played the Good Samaritan when he discovered the handset lying in the street.

He rang the last number dialled and told a friend of the owner he would leave the phone at a nearby police station. But officers arrested him for “theft by finding”, held him for four hours and took a DNA sample.

Yesterday Paul said: “I thought I was doing the right thing and had it thrown back in my face. I wouldn’t go to the police in future. All I was doing was the honest thing. It was a shocking experience.”

The A-level student at Southport College, Merseyside, had been out celebrating his 18th birthday last month when he found the phone.

Paul added: “Being arrested isn’t a good way to celebrate your birthday. What are you supposed to do when you find a phone?”

Merseyside Police dropped the case but Paul’s father Vinnie, 37, of Seaforth, Merseyside, is still angry over his arrest.

He said: “It should never have happened. Paul’s mum and I brought him up the right way. They should give him an apology.”

Chief Superintendent Ian Pilling said: “We are reviewing the circumstances of the arrest.”

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