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G20 protesters to challenge 'kettling' tactics
Ben Bailey30 Jun 2009
Solicitors acting on behalf of protesters caught up in clashes at the G20 demonstrations will launch a legal challenge today.
Experts will bring a judicial review of police tactics such as "kettling" to contain people and the excessive use of force.
Activists who staged the Bishopsgate climate camp want an explanation of how the Metropolitan Police handled the controversial City of London events in April.
They have also demanded that senior officers provide a legal basis for the practice of containing protesters in one place for extended periods of time.
But activists admitted they have only one confirmed litigant, Chris Abbott, for their High Court bid.
Mr Abbott, 30, from Reading, said he was punched in the face and struck repeatedly by riot shields when officers charged without warning.
The £50,000 legal action also faces a financial black hole as activists have only raised £11,000 so far. The gap may be filled by taxpayer-funded legal aid.
Management consultant Frances Wright, 40, who worked as a legal observer at the climate camp, said the challenge may set a legal precedent.
She said: "We want to create some legal precedent with a legal review. We are not in it to get money, we just want to make a difference to case law.
"The police talk about accountability for their actions before the law and this is part of that process, a judicial review."
John Halford, of Bindmans solicitors, said: "There is something unreal about a police operation, which had as one of its avowed aims facilitating peaceful protest, leading to hundreds of peaceful people being penned in for several hours, scores of assaults by police officers and a fatality.
"More unreal still is the institutional position taken by police in response to this claim: that nothing whatever went wrong and that everything was authorised by law.
"The events of April 1 suggest that the police have no meaningful understanding of the limits of their powers, much less their proper role, and that the courts will need to explain it to them in the clearest of terms."
Several reviews and inquiries were already under way after a barrage of complaints of police brutality during the demonstrations.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is probing several allegations of violence by police and claims the media were misled.
The most high-profile complaint followed the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson after he was hit with a baton and pushed to the ground.
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Denis O'Connor will reveal the preliminary findings of his review of public order tactics next week.
Protesters have also brought a second judicial review linked to the actions of police at a camp at the Kingsnorth power station in Kent last year.
They were challenging the blanket use of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to search everyone who attended.
Reader views (8)
Clint, London - "So, people who deliberately went out of their way to protest and in many cases provoke police - will be eligible for legal aid? This is beyond a joke."
Are you serious? protesting is in no way a crime and hence police have no right to treat protesters as criminals. If a protester behaves in a criminal manner then the police have a duty to act, but one persons crime does not make a criminal of all 'protesters'. Perhaps you would fee more comfortable in a police state, where people do not have the right to protest or express their opinion, say on a Internet web site?
- Eric, london, 05/07/2009 14:56
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The Police DID try to stop legitimate protest by confining people in an unwarranted fashion which only increased tension.
The actions of a very small number does not justify the mass confinement of all people in an area and leads to more problems as an originally overwhelmingly peaceful crowd detained by brute force is not going to be docile forever.
If Police can't take a bit of 'provocation' (name calling, no swords were involved)on such a day then fire them as they are clearly unsuited to the job, like that TSG who attacked a woman because he panicked.
- Konrad, London, 30/06/2009 14:43
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Konrad, London: You are right in what you say about the right to protest. However, the Police did not try to stop legitimate protest, they reacted to violent disorder.
The right to protest brings with it the responsibility to behave in an orderly and rational manner, within the bounds of the law. It does not give one carte blanche to provoke anyone, including Police, or to vandalise and ransack public or private property.
That said, I do believe that NuLiebour's Britain-hating anti-democrats have placed too many restrictions on legitimate protest, especially arond Parliament Square.
There are too many hoops to jump through for organisers of popular mass demonstartions and individual protesters.
They use the Police in an attempt to quash demonstartions that run against NuLiebour's policy or dogma, whilst giving a free hand to anything that supports their politically correct, anti-British dogma.
One only has to look at the difference in the treatment of those at the G20 protest who dared challenge Gormless Clown's claim to be the saviour of the Universe, and those protesting against events in Sri Lanka. The latter were sporting banners supporting proscribed organisatiions (terrorism act 2000) but, because they were predominantly ethnic minorities, the Police and politicians counldn't run away fast enough. Allowing those people to flout laws under which the rest of us would be prosecuted was an undemocratic outrage.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 30/06/2009 13:02
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If protesters cannot protest without the desire to provocate.....Behave as you would expect people to behave to you so if you like being spat at, swore at, bottled, bricked, attacked with a sword expect some sort of reply. Perhaps you could protect in Iran and see how far you got there with your protest. Obviously you were not disciplined properly as a child.
- Nelly, east london, 30/06/2009 12:01
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A legitimate point will be ruined by lawyers
- Stuart, Dunstable, Uk, 30/06/2009 08:55
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We have a 100% right to protest. When the police force tries to stop all forms of that we no longer live in a democratic nation.
If the police can't deal with 'provocation' in a professional way then they should not be police.
- Konrad, London, UK, 29/06/2009 21:58
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- Clint, London
I witnessed much of the activities on this day and apart from a few exceptions, Police largely got it right.
- Paul, London, 29/06/2009 17:30
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So, people who deliberately went out of their way to protest and in many cases provoke police - will be eligible for legal aid? This is beyond a joke. These are the same people who have no regard for personal property or the rule of law.
I witnessed much of the activities on this day and apart from a few exceptions, Police largely got it right.
- Clint, London, 29/06/2009 15:03
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