“A man who threw a plastic beer bottle at Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt moments before the Olympic 100m final has been found guilty of public disorder at Stratford magistrates court.”
The Guardian, 11th January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A Merseyside music promoter who admitted making anti-Semitic remarks to a Jewish MP has been fined £120.”
BBC News, 9th January 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The House of Lords on Wednesday night voted to remove a law that criminalises the use of insulting language in Britain.”
The Guardian, 12th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A court has cleared a man who shouted the word ‘nigger’ at a black man of racial abuse, after he claimed he was a rap music fan who used the term as an endearment.”
The Guardian, 4th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A 29-year-old who stripped naked on top of a statue in central London, before breaking off its sword and biting it, has been jailed for 12 weeks.”
BBC News, 4th December 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Calls to erase the criminal records of the estimated 7,000 men detained and ‘falsely charged’ during the miners’ strike have been made by campaigners demanding a fresh inquiry into the policing of the dispute.”
The Guardian, 1st December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“When you are speaking to someone face to face you are free to say something grossly offensive to them, or even to shout it out so that anyone within earshot can hear. It’s not a crime. Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 states that it doesn’t matter whether you let loose your volley of invective in front of someone who is likely to be insulted by it, or even offended by it, provided they are not likely to have been caused harassment, alarm or distress.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 2nd November 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.com
“When speech offends, insults and disparages should we resort to legal action?”
The Guardian, 23rd October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A man who disrupted this year’s University Boat Race has been jailed for six months for causing a public nuisance.”
BBC News, 19th October 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A man from Greater Manchester who wore a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments about the killing of two police officers has been jailed.”
BBC News, 11th October 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A protester who disrupted this year’s Boat Race by swimming into the path of the crews was found guilty today of causing a public nuisance.”
The Independent, 26th September 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Anti-abortion protesters who displayed pictures of aborted foetuses outside a clinic offering pregnancy terminations have been cleared of public order offences.”
The Guardian, 17th September 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Prison sentences totalling more than 1,800 years have been handed out to rioters following the disorder which began exactly a year ago.”
BBC News, 6th August 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Duncan Campbell reports from the east London court for the first conviction of a racially aggravated offence at the Games.”
The Guardian, 1st August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A Lithuanian man who gave a Nazi salute during an Olympic basketball match has become the first person to be convicted of a racially aggravated offence at the Games and fined £2,500. He was told that his behaviour and that of other Lithuanian fans was ‘despicable’.”
The Guardian, 1st August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“John Terry has been acquitted of racially aggravated causing harassment, alarm or distress under s 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and s 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 31st July 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“Two Metropolitan police officers are to stand trial accused of making racist remarks to their colleagues, prosecutors have announced.”
The Guardian, 26th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A waiter who streaked alongside the Olympic Torch was merely inspiring ‘hilarity not distress’ when he joined the relay wearing nothing but trainers, his lawyer insisted today.”
The Independent, 25th July 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Pre-emptive arrests, confinement by kettling and the gathering of personal data give police officers ‘excessive and disproportionate’ control over public protests, a report by a coalition of police monitoring groups has warned.”
The Guardian, 24th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The former England captain John Terry has been cleared of racially abusing fellow footballer Anton Ferdinand in a no-blame verdict that ruled the incident could have been down to a misunderstanding.”
The Guardian, 13th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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