<
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/12/anti-monarchy-protester-suing-met-chief-over-coronation-day-arrest>
"The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is being sued over the
arrest of the chief executive of Britain’s leading republican movement on the
day of the king’s coronation, in what is being viewed as a first test case of
new protest laws.
Graham Smith, who was detained on 6 May for 14 hours, is seeking a judicial
review of the lawfulness of his arrest as well as damages and an admission of
fault from Scotland Yard, according to legal papers seen by the
Guardian.
The case is said by Smith’s lawyers to be the first time that a court has had
the chance to consider the “correct approach” to the exercise of powers given
to the police days before the coronation under which they are able to arrest
those suspected of “going equipped to lock on”.
The legal challenge by Smith follows an outcry at what freedom of speech
campaigners criticised at the time as the heavy-handed policing of the
coronation, which led to just a handful of charges despite a blizzard of police
activity.
There were 64 arrests on the day, of which half led to no further action being
taken, including in relation to Smith, whose detention with a group of five
other republican campaigners Rowley has since conceded was “unfortunate”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
