'Gay horse' case dropped

AN OXFORD University student who called a policeman's horse "gay" will not be prosecuted.

But police stood by their decision to take him to court for "homophobic comments" after the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday dropped the case.

Sam Brown, 21, from Belfast, approached the mounted officer during a night out in Oxford after his final exams last May, and said: "Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?" Moments later, two police cars appeared and he was arrested under the Public Order Act.

English literature graduate Mr Brown, then at Balliol College, spent a night in the cells. He refused to pay an ?80 fine, so police took the case to court.

But prosecutor Cariad Eveson-Webb told Oxford magistrates the CPS would not proceed. There was not enough evidence to prove Mr Brown's behaviour was disorderly, he said.

Thames Valley Police denied being heavy-handed

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