Oxford University PhD student mistaken for suicide bomber after going for run in 'weights vest '

An Oxford University was mistaken for a suicide bomber as he jogged around the city's streets - wearing a weighted vest.

Armed police stopped the Iranian man after reports of a suicide bomber, only to discover he was a jogger wearing an exercise vest. The suspect was ordered to stop running, put his hands in the air and drop everything as officers approached him. The officers carefully took off the heavily padded vest and searched it, looking for explosives and a detonator. However, they found the Oxford University PhD student was wearing a training vest loaded with weights for added resistance when running.

Used by the likes of Prince Harry for his Armed Forces trek to the Arctic, the weight vest is becoming a popular exercise accessory. Iranian student Goudarz Karimi said he was shocked by the police response even after they realised he was not a suicide bomber. He said he had gone out for a jog on Monday afternoon and was confronted by the armed response team in Southfield Road, East Oxford. Mr Karimi said: 'They told me "Stop! Stop! Put your hands in the air. Drop everything you have".

'The police removed my weight vest and examined it. They started asking questions: "What are you doing?" 'They said they had a report of someone walking in a bomb suit. There were police cars and the street was blocked.' The 25-year-old was then made to remove the 30kg vest so officers could check it for explosives. He said that when they realised it was an exercise vest they advised him to remove it to prevent any another call from a terrified member of the public. 'They told me I'd have to take my vest off, I didn't want to provoke anything else and that's why I put my jacket over it.'

Mr Karimi said he feared his ethnic origin had sparked the concerns. 'I am 100 per cent sure that if I was blond with Caucasian skin type, nobody would have noticed and said anything about it. 'But I'm of dark skin complexion and from Iran and I'm sure that's related to it,' he said. He said officers advised him not to wear it in the street in future but Thames Valley Police dispute this. 

Mr Karimi, who is studying for a PhD in physiology, anatomy and genetics at Oxford University, said: 'I felt a bit like my rights were violated. The police told me to take my vest off and to go home and I don't see why I should.