Activists complain to IPCC over police efforts to recruit them as informers – The Guardian

Posted August 5th, 2014 in complaints, demonstrations, informers, intimidation, news, police by sally

‘Four campaigners have lodged a complaint with an official watchdog, alleging that they felt intimidated by covert police officers who were trying to persuade them to spy on their political colleagues.’

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The Guardian, 4th August 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Badger cull injunction breach case dropped – BBC News

Posted May 29th, 2014 in animals, demonstrations, environmental health, injunctions, news, prosecutions by michael

‘The case against the only person accused of breaching last year’s badger cull injunction has been dropped.’

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BBC News, 29th May 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The Killing of Blair Peach – London Review of Books

Posted May 16th, 2014 in coroners, demonstrations, inquests, news, police, reports by sally

‘‘As a campaign meeting, it must have been one of the biggest yet, a hundred National Front supporters, three and a half thousand police and thousands of Asian demonstrators.’ This was the way News at Ten began its report of the clashes in Southall on 23 April 1979, midway through the general election campaign that would end with the victory of Margaret Thatcher. The report contained footage of police officers arresting middle-aged men in turbans, women sitting down in the road and demonstrators with their heads swaddled in bandages. The final images showed around twenty NF supporters, all men, giving Nazi salutes as they went into Southall Town Hall.’

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London Review of Books, 22nd May 2014

Source: www.lrb.co.uk

Article 8 and the Private Sector – NearlyLegal

‘In one sense, the possession claim in Manchester Ship Canal Developments v Persons Unknown [2014] EWHC 645 (Ch) follows a fairly predictable course. The Defendants were a group of activists who had set up camp on Barton Moss Lane, Manchester, in protest at the drilling program being undertaken by a company, Igas Energy plc. The Claimants had granted Igas a licence to drill on the land nearby and the protest was intended to deter the controversial fracking process which the activists feared would ensue.’

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NearlyLegal, 16th March 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Alleged victims’ fury at failure to ban undercover police seduction tactics – The Guardian

Posted March 17th, 2014 in codes of practice, demonstrations, news, police, professional conduct, spying by tracey

‘Eight women who say they were duped into forming long-term sexual relationships with undercover policemen have attacked the government’s failure to ban such behaviour in a newly published code of conduct. The Home Office policy suggests there will be a tightening of guidelines on undercover surveillance, but does not explicitly rule out officers engaging in sexual relationships with those being spied on or those who associate with the target. The new code – which is now open to consultation – merely says that intrusion into someone’s “private or family life”, even when they are not the direct targets of the surveillance, should be justified by the information that might be discovered.’

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The Guardian, 16th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Anti-fracking campaigners in Salford can stay, court rules – The Guardian

Posted March 12th, 2014 in appeals, demonstrations, energy, fracking, human rights, news, public order, repossession by tracey

‘Demonstrators facing eviction from an anti-fracking camp have won 11th-hour permission to stay put while they go to the court of appeal. On Monday a judge at Manchester’s high court made an order for possession against the collective occupying land at Barton Moss in Salford, Greater Manchester. The order was to take effect from midday today. But eviction was stayed just before the noon deadline by the appeal court to give the protesters an opportunity to apply for permission to appeal.’

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The Guardian, 11th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Anti-fracking campaigners challenge eviction attempt in court – The Guardian

‘Anti-fracking protesters who have been camping by a drill site in Greater Manchester since late October have appeared in court to challenge attempts to evict them.’

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The Guardian, 6th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Pop stars’ daughter who glued herself to anti-fracking protester found guilty – The Guardian

‘The daughter of musicians Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde has been found guilty after supergluing herself to a fellow anti-fracking protester outside the main gate of an exploratory oil drilling site.’

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The Guardian, 24th February 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘War crimes’ defence against Israel company protest convictions fails in Supreme Court – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 7th, 2014 in defences, demonstrations, news, public order, trespass by tracey

‘Richardson v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] UKSC 8. The tactics of protesters engaging in demonstrations, or acts of civil disobedience, frequently raise interesting questions of law. A demonstration by two activists opposed to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, who entered a shop in Covent Garden which sold produce from the Dead Sea, produced on an Israeli settlement, recently resulted in the Supreme Court addressing two such questions.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 7th February 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Richardson and another (Appellants) v Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Posted February 6th, 2014 in appeals, crime, demonstrations, law reports, Supreme Court, trespass by sally

Richardson and another (Appellants) v Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) [2014] UKSC 8 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 5th February 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Sussex landowners mount ‘legal blockade’ against fracking – BBC News

‘Landowners in the Sussex Downs National Park are mounting a “legal blockade” to block a potential fracking site. Solicitors for residents near Fernhurst, in West Sussex, have written to Celtique Energie and the Energy Secretary Ed Davey to explicitly deny permission to drill under their land.’

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BBC News, 3rd February 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Legal aid lawyers form new group to oppose cuts – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 29th, 2014 in barristers, budgets, demonstrations, legal aid, news, solicitors by sally

‘Groups representing legal aid lawyers have formed a new campaign group to oppose fresh cuts in funding.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 28th January 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Campaigner’s lawyers challenge secrecy over police spy accused of lying in court – The Guardian

‘Prosecutors are due on Monday to defend their decision to keep secret the cause of a miscarriage of justice involving an undercover police officer who allegedly used his fictitious identity in a criminal trial to conceal his covert work.’

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The Guardian, 26th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Royal wedding protesters lose court appeal against Metropolitan Police – The Independent

Posted January 23rd, 2014 in appeals, demonstrations, news, police, stop and search by sally

‘Republican activists who protested at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton lost a legal appeal on Wednesday, against a ruling on the conduct of the Metropolitan Police.’

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The Independent, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Court of Appeal ignores Strasbourg ruling on police detention – BBC News

Posted January 22nd, 2014 in appeals, demonstrations, detention, human rights, news, police by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has backed the police over “pre-emptive” arrests during the 2011 Royal Wedding – and ignored a European Court ruling on the issue.’

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BBC News, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Drax protesters’ convictions quashed – BBC News

Posted January 21st, 2014 in appeals, demonstrations, failure to disclose information, news, police by sally

‘Twenty-nine people sentenced after a power station protest where an undercover police officer was working have had their convictions quashed.’

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BBC News, 21st January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Buckingham Palace protester jailed – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 16th, 2014 in demonstrations, news, offensive weapons, sentencing, social security, trespass by tracey

‘A man who staged a stunt in which he leapt over a vehicle barrier at Buckingham Palace armed with a knife as a protest against his Incapacity Benefit being stopped has been jailed for 16 months.’

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Daily Telegraph, 15th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Campaigner Tim Haries guilty of defacing Queen portrait – BBC News

Posted January 8th, 2014 in criminal damage, demonstrations, news, parental rights by sally

‘A Fathers4Justice campaigner has been found guilty of defacing a portrait of the Queen while it was on display in Westminster Abbey.’

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BBC News, 8th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Scientology, University Unrest and Right to Die – the Human Rights Roundup – UK Human Rights Blog

‘This week, the Church of Scientology registered a win of sorts in the Supreme Court, while London’s biggest university said no to occupational student protests just as others were contemplating the possibility of gender-segregated talks  Meanwhile, the Home Secretary puts forward her answer to modern day slavery, while the Joint Committee on Human Rights puts pressure on Chris Grayling regarding the proposed legal aid reforms.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th December 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

BSB publishes guidance on deliberately failing to attend court – Bar Standards Board

‘The Bar Standards Board has today published guidance on deliberately failing to attend court.’

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Bar Standards Board, 18th December 2013

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk