Only in terror state England could this happen

A diabetic in a coma and in need of urgent medical attention was shot with a stun gun by police who feared he was a suicide bomber. But apart from wearing a rucksack and being on a bus, he is bewildered as to how he could be mistaken for a terrorist. Last night he accused police of using him for "target practice". The 34-year-old bistro owner and son of a magistrate has been dependent on insulin for 20 years. He was on his way to meet friends for a drink after work when he fell into a diabetic coma on the top deck of a bus in his home town of Leeds. He says he was the only passenger on board. He does not remember any more until he woke up in the back of a police van in handcuffs, initially fearing he had been kidnapped.

It appears armed police had been called to the bus and shot him twice with a Taser gun after he failed to respond to their orders. Yesterday, after discovering the two police officers involved would not be prosecuted, he spoke out about his shocking experience on July 13 2005, nine days before the shooting in London of Jean Charles de Menezes.

"I am disgusted that no action will be taken," he said. "The only thing that could have made people suspicious of me was that I had a black rucksack with me. "But I am a white male, and if I was planning to blow up the bus, why didn't I do it when there were passengers on board? "Senior officers also told me after the incident that the policemen who came on the bus had been told not to use weapons on me if I did not respond. "I think they just saw it as an opportunity to try out their toys."

Mr Gaubert has been told the second officer on the bus was armed with a real gun. "It sends a shiver down my spine," he said. "He had a rifle pressed against my temple. I suppose I should be glad they decided to use the Taser." Mr Gaubert, whose parents are retired GPs was dressed in a shirt and suit trousers and wearing a special necklace to alert people to his diabetic condition. I was in a diabetic coma. I could have died and all they were bothered about was whether I was going to blow up an empty, stationary bus." From the back of the police van, Mr Gaubert eventually persuaded officers to take him to hospital for treatment. "I just remember waking up in the back of a van and I could hear people talking in the front. I genuinely thought I'd been kidnapped. "I just shudder when I think what could have happened if I hadn't come round. They would have thrown me into a cell and I would probably have died." He was on anti-depressants after the incident and suffered from back pain for two weeks. He has hired lawyers and is considering legal action. "I break down when the de Menezes case is in the news," he said. "I just keep thinking that could have been me."

A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed Mr Gaubert was "mistakenly treated as a potential security threat when he was, in fact, in a hypoglycaemic state". He added: "The IPCC must determine whether any disciplinary matters need to be considered against the officers involved."


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reprinted from the Daily mail 16 November 2007