–Don’t let police into your house; say to the officers that if someone is offended by your social media post, remind them that there is no threat of immediate danger because of that post; turn police bullying back onto the bullying officers; record everything

Reporting / opinion by Mathew Carr

Sept. 23, 2025 — This podcast from yesterday is worth watching, especially for Brits (it’s not legal advice and Barrett says he is not a criminal barrister)

If the police try to bully you by threatening arrest or threatening to take you down to the station, say something like: I’m sorry for you that you just said that…I recorded it …you, Mr / Ms Police officer can get into big trouble for making threats.

A Brits’ home is her/his castle.

Some of the comments on You Tube are great

eg

@alanmunce7824

2 hours ago20 years ago we had a shop, police officers and the local PCSO’s used to call by for a hot drink and an endless supply of biscuits. It was fun. The local undesirables could see this and chose to keep their distance. We felt safe in the community we lived and worked in. That was policing at its best and I truly miss them days.

@garyandrews3381

1 day agoBrilliant Steven, as a retired Police Officer, which sadly I’ve become increasingly embarrassed about with the current state of Policing, you are right to post this.Thank you.

(Added comments)

auto transcript

0:01Hello, I am the barristister Steven

0:03Barrett. Um, you may see me in other

0:06forms of media. I try to make law

0:09accessible to everybody because it is

0:11your legal system and it is important

0:13that you understand it. And I wanted to

0:16make this short video to address an

0:18issue that I think many of us are now

0:22afraid of, which is the knock on the

0:25door from police officers. I think far

0:29too often we have seen police officers

0:31knocking on the doors of innocent people

0:34over social media posts or things they

0:36may have written on Facebook or Twitter

0:39or videos they may have made. And really

0:41it’s about the idea that you have

0:43offended someone and that you have

0:45committed a crime for offending someone

0:48which is something I think we as a

0:49nation will have to address eventually

0:52and I look forward to when we do. But in

0:55the meantime, while we live in these

0:56dark times, it struck me as useful to

0:59give a guide, a legal guide. I can’t

1:02give you independent legal advice. I’m

1:05not giving anybody who watches this

1:07video legal advice, but I am reminding

1:09everybody of the laws of England and

1:10Wales the laws our constitution fought a

1:14thousand years to grant us the rights

1:16and protections of. And I want you to

1:19all know how to be safe. So, imagine the

1:22scenario.

1:24You’ve offended somebody. The person you

1:27have offended has reported you to the

1:29police and the police have lost their

1:33way. Let’s be polite to them. In the

1:35modern sense, the officers have got a

1:38very confused and they’ve decided to

1:40come knocking on your door. We’ve seen

1:42the videos now. This is too common. It

1:44happens far too often. Right. The first

1:48words are words all British people

1:50should cling to always.

1:53Stay calm.

1:55Don’t panic.

1:57You will. That’s natural. If you’re a

2:00decent, law-abiding person, you’re not

2:01used to the police knocking on your

2:03door. Okay? And I think most of us just

2:07should take a step back and think about

2:09that and reflect on how we’d feel. Um, I

2:12worked terribly hard uh to get where I

2:14am in life. first in my family to get A

2:16levels, first to go to university. I

2:18went to the University of Oxford. I

2:19became a barristister. I consider myself

2:21respectable. But let’s be absolutely

2:23honest,

2:25tomorrow a police officer may very well

2:28end up on my front door. I don’t know

2:31how I’d react, but I would like to

2:33listen to my own advice. Stay calm.

2:37Don’t panic. A knock at the door does

2:40not mean anything automatically. And a

2:43lot of the time these officers are quite

2:44quick to point out that they’re not

2:46arresting you. Good. Listen to them. If

2:49they’re not arresting you, you don’t

2:51have to let them in. Okay? So, don’t let

2:54them in. I’m actually at that stage. I I

2:57would be polite to the officers

2:58personally, but I would not let them in

3:00my house. I think years ago when we were

3:03in a different place as a country, I

3:05would have invited them in, given them

3:06tea, given them biscuits, given them

3:08cake, had a lovely chat with the

3:10officers. No. If they’re not there to

3:12arrest you, don’t let them in.

3:16Stay calm and be polite. I think record

3:20everything. So, record it on your phone

3:21or if you’re lucky enough to have a

3:23doorbell camera, that will do it for

3:25you.

3:27The police can ask to come into your

3:29house, but you don’t have to let them.

3:30It’s your house. That’s the whole point.

3:33It’s your house. This is your safe

3:35space. They can only come in if they

3:37have a warrant or if they want to arrest

3:40you for an indictable offense. And we’ll

3:41get on to that a bit later. If they say

3:44they have a warrant, ask to see it and

3:47get that on camera. Then if if they

3:51don’t,

3:53thank you very much for coming, officer.

3:56This is terribly kind. I’m going to get

3:58back to my evening’s activities or day

3:59activities. You can close the door on

4:02them. You can use reasonable force if

4:04they’re if they’re wrong in officers and

4:06they’re trying to force their way into

4:07your property. You you can use

4:08reasonable force to stop them. That’s

4:12perfectly lawful. I personally would

4:14only do it if it was on camera and I had

4:16the confidence that it was all on camera

4:18because bad officers can lie and bad

4:21officers can be believed and I’m afraid

4:23we live in a time of bad officers. Never

4:26overshare.

4:28Don’t tell the police officers anything.

4:31Ask the police officer for their badge

4:33number and their identification. Ask the

4:36police officer to explain why they are

4:38there in detail. And if they will not

4:39tell you, say, “Well, officer, I I’ll

4:42just pause because I can talk quickly

4:44sometimes.”

4:45Officer, I cannot respond to something

4:47if you will not explain.

4:51Then stay silent. Silence is quite an

4:53important powerful control mechanism you

4:56have at your disposal. Don’t overshare.

5:00use silence. The officer must explain

5:05why they are there. If it is uh relating

5:09to a potential offense,

5:12simply say, “Officer, I need time to

5:14take legal advice. I need time to take

5:16independent legal advice, which you you

5:18know I’m entitled to, officer.”

5:21If the officer tries some of these bully

5:23boy tactics and says, “Well, if you

5:25don’t talk to me, I’m going to arrest

5:27you.” Then I want you to say these

5:29words.

5:30Officer, that is a deeply inappropriate

5:32thing for you to have said. I am very

5:35sorry for you that you have said it. I

5:38will be reporting you for those

5:40comments. They are on video.

5:43Because police officers do not get to

5:45bully citizens of this United Kingdom in

5:48order to say things under threat of

5:50potential arrest. A police officer must

5:53arrest if they think or if they think

5:55the crime has been committed. That’s

5:56their job. If they don’t think a crime

5:58is being committed, then they should not

6:00be bullying and threatening you with the

6:03threat of it. If they say, “If you do

6:05not talk to me now, you will have to

6:07come in for an interview.” You’ll have

6:08to say, “Well, I only have to,” you

6:10should say, “Officer,

6:12I only have to come in if you’re going

6:14to arrest me. Are you going to arrest

6:16me?” And I’m afraid this is the line

6:18we’re going to have to take. These are

6:21bullies, weak, weak human beings, and

6:24cowards. I expect many of them would

6:27back down at this point and I seriously

6:29suggest you simply close the door. If

6:33you want to be very cautious, give the

6:36officer a means of contacting you. But

6:39you can also simply say, “Officer, you

6:41may write to me at this address. This is

6:42my residence. This is where I live.

6:44Officer, you have no reasonable grounds

6:46to believe that I won’t continue to live

6:48here.” So, there’s an issue. Write to

6:52me. Thank you officer for your time. I

6:55will not be co cooperating with you any

6:58further. Now, I did say that the officer

7:01has a right, one right under an act

7:03called the Police and Criminal Evidence

7:05Act to force their way into your home.

7:09Now, the law, I’m sorry if you’ve seen

7:10me on other things, you’ll know that I

7:12think our entire legal system is in a

7:13flabby, fat, and bad way. But it’s not

7:17so bad that the officer just has a right

7:19to to break into your home, which is

7:21what they they’d be doing.

7:24An officer may uh enter somebody’s home,

7:27enter your house if they think an

7:29indictable offense is being committed.

7:31Now, indictable just means very serious.

7:34Okay? So, that’s rape, murder, the big

7:36stuff. If the officer has come over

7:39social media, it’s nowhere near the big

7:41stuff. When I said that our laws have

7:44got flabby because they have, there is a

7:47possibility under section 17 of pace to

7:50enter under the public order act. But

7:54the officer can only enter if he

7:57believes that there is a danger of

7:59immediate unlawful violence

8:03will be used against a person. And you

8:05simply say to the officer, officer,

8:08there is no danger of immediate unlawful

8:10violence. If somebody is upset by my

8:13tweet, somebody is upset by my Facebook

8:16post, that’s very much on them. Officer,

8:19my intention is to let’s just take me

8:23spend the evening on the sofa with a cup

8:24of tea and maybe more biscuits than I

8:28ought to and watch television. So,

8:30officer, there is no threat of immediate

8:33unlawful violence by me having a cup of

8:36tea and some biscuits and watching

8:38television.

8:41I hope this video will help you. It is

8:44no substitute for independent legal

8:46advice. Please join the free speech

8:47union. Please like and subscribe to my

8:50channel if you found this helpful. I’m

8:51going to be doing more of these simple

8:53explanations of law. I’m not giving

8:56legal advice. I’m explaining law in

8:59exactly the same way my law tutors

9:01explained it to me 26 years ago.

9:05I think it’s time. We all need to

9:07understand our laws. And if we’re going

9:09to get out of our of this mess, I think

9:12that’s the best way we can go forward.

9:14So, I hope this is useful to you. I hope

9:17it’s helpful to you. If it if you need

9:19further clarity, please put it in the

9:21comments. I will read them and I will

9:24look forward to doing an update video.

9:27I’ve got a I’m not a criminal

9:28barristister um but I’ve got a criminal

9:31barristister friend who I’m looking to

9:33do more of these uh with whenever they

9:35touch touch on crime. But this the these

9:37are relatively these are very

9:38straightforward simple rules. An

9:40Englishman’s home is his castle. You are

9:43safe in your home.

9:45I want to keep you safe in your home.

9:49Thank you.