Playing Bagpipes Is ‘Disturbing the Peace’

A man has been arrested for playing bagpipes in public because doing so amounts to “disturbing the peace.”

Shaun Cartwright was arrested in Dorset, England, after he began playing in an outdoor shopping area in hopes that passersby would tip him. Instead, police handcuffed him, took him to a station and fingerprinted him. His bagpipes were seized as evidence.

Officers had to act quickly because being forced to listen to bagpipes was causing “distress” to the innocent public, according to police inspector Alan Jenkins.

Cartwright says he has been playing for 25 years and this is the sixth time he’s been arrested. “People are prejudiced against the bagpipes,” he says.

Authorities ultimately decided not to prosecute the case, but Cartwright “was given strong words of advice” about choosing a less annoying instrument in the future, Jenkins said.

Source: The Daily Mail.

Image: Random fotos via Flickr.