Primrose Hill BBC presenter Petroc Trelawny tells of time in Zimbabwe prison cell
A Radio 3 presenter arrested in Zimbabwe for being in the country illegally has revealed he was treated with “nothing but kindness” during his incarceration.
Primrose Hill resident Petroc Trelawny, was arrested at a music festival he was presenting for not having a work permit – despite having agreed to compere the event for free.
He was taken to a police station, where he had to share a 14ft by 9ft cell with up to 20 other people.
He told BBC Radio 4: “As soon as I went in, I realised it was going to be very uncomfortable but there was nothing to be frightened of.”
He said the other inmates were “warm and welcoming” and taught him how to sleep in such a small space, which meant that when one person moved everyone had to follow.
While in the tiny cell the BBC presenter fell and injured himself.
“I was given the space right at the far end of the cell and had gone to peer out at the grill,” he said. “On the way back, I tripped over one of the many people there.
Most Read
- 1 The most expensive homes sold in Haringey in November 2021
- 2 'We're proud of what we do': Kossoffs celebrates six months in Kentish Town
- 3 Italian sandwich shop opens in a Hampstead telephone box
- 4 Ex-manager admits defrauding Paddington Sports Club
- 5 Air ambulance mobilised as boy, 15, knifed in South Hampstead
- 6 Sexual offence reports at record levels in Camden, Haringey and Barnet
- 7 'We don't need to drink more coffee' say cafés as Joe & The Juice moves in
- 8 Cops swoop on cannabis farm rumoured to be 'largest ever' busted in Haringey
- 9 Ricky Gervais behind new benches for people grieving to 'talk and reflect'
- 10 The man who wants to put trains among the trees from Muswell Hill to Highgate
“I instinctively put my arm out to stop the fall and heard the sound of what I thought was breaking bone.”
He was transferred him to hospital, where he said he was treated by the “most amazing” nurses despite the hospital’s lack of drugs.
“I’m left with an extraordinary realisation of the goodness of humanity,” he said.
All charges against the music presenter, who was in Zimbabwe in a personal capacity, were dropped and he left the country last Friday (June 1).
