An IT consultant from the UK ended up in a prison cell after posting a holiday photo on LinkedIn. The picture showed him holding a gun while he was on vacation in Florida, more than 4,000 miles away from home. Jon Richelieu-Booth lives in Yorkshire and was shocked when police officers came to his door after he shared the picture earlier this year.
According to Unilad, the first visit from the officer was just a warning about what he had been posting online and how it could affect other people. But that wasn’t the end of it. Police came back later and arrested him.He spent the entire night in a prison cell while being questioned about the picture he took in the US and another separate image he had posted.
The bail documents mentioned serious charges. Richelieu-Booth was facing charges of firearm possession intended to frighten, and stalking charges related to the separate image of a property.
The police couldn’t tell the difference between Florida and Yorkshire
The IT consultant tried hard to prove to the authorities that the photo was taken during his holiday in the US, where gun laws are completely different from those in the UK. He was released on bail, and during that time, police visited him three separate times. This isn’t the first time British people have misunderstood American culture in bizarre ways.
The charges related to stalking and illegal firearm possession were eventually dropped. However, he was still charged with a public order offense over the separate image. Richelieu-Booth was supposed to appear at Bradford Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, but the entire case was stopped by the Crown Prosecution Service due to insufficient evidence.
Jon Richelieu-Booth visited friends in Florida. They took him shooting. He posted a photo. When he returned to the UK, he was arrested and all of his electronic devices were seized by police. pic.twitter.com/bILO8Ae4Q2
— Anthony Bradley (@drantbradley) November 29, 2025
This whole situation clearly took a huge toll on him. Richelieu-Booth told The Yorkshire Post that he was living in constant fear and that the stress was overwhelming. He said he couldn’t sleep and lived in fear of a knock at his door for three months. The experience badly damaged his ability to run his business, and he described it as 13 weeks of hell.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed to Metro that they received a complaint of stalking involving serious alarm or distress. The complaint was partly about social media posts, several of which included pictures of a man posing with various firearms that the complainant saw as a threat. Police investigated and charged him with a public order offense, but the CPS later stopped the case. UK authorities have made questionable judgment calls before when dealing with unusual situations.
Now that the charges have been dropped, Richelieu-Booth plans to fight back against the authorities for the stress and damage caused. He confirmed he will be filing a case against West Yorkshire Police and seeking significant damages.
