Sausage Rolls and Pedophilia: How Cops’ Mistake Led a Man to Suicide

In 2017, Brian Temple of England walked into a British bakery chain and stole a packet of sausage rolls—one would think it a relatively low-stakes crime. But Temple’s arrest papers made him out to be something far worse as police mistakenly said that he was suspected of trying to have a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. The fallout of that mistake led Temple, 34, to take his own life months later, according to an inquest. Per The Guardian, a coroner’s court was told that Temple, unaware of the error, gave the papers to his girlfriend upon his release from custody. Disgusted, she then spread the false claim of pedophilia, prompting a torrent of verbal and physical abuse in his local community. The attacks, the court was told, led Temple to heavy drug and alcohol usage prior to his suicide. Officials described the mistake as a “genuine human error.”