barbara tucker, the stoic peace campaigner facing endless harrassment from charing cross police for doing no more than peacefully demonstrating near parliament and downing street, was arrested again this morning in parliament square. worried supporters and her solicitor are trying to get her out of police hands as there are grave fears for her safety.
barbara with her genocide banner
under serious organised crime and police act sections 132 et al, barbara has been 'reported for possible summons' on more than seventy occasions by police over the past year.
despite this, the only actual case they have ever brought to court was thrown out by judge snow (who is known on the circuit as a tough judge not given to liberal leanings!). the judge used the phrase 'void ab initio' which is the strongest possible legal term, literally translated ' empty from the start' and is often used to denote the possibility of corruption. it certainly means that in his view the police and crown prosecution had absolutely no grounds for bringing barbara to court.
faced with difficulties prosecuting barbara under socpa laws, they have tried various other methods to intimidate and harrass her in order to get her genocide banners off the streets near blair. she has had spurious arrests for obstruction of the highway, and they have tried on two occasions to detain her under the mental health act. on the second of these, she was detained while answering bail, and her solicitor was visibly shaken by the police tactics saying that she had never heard of anything like it before. at that time, police agreed to sign a document promising 'no further action' relating to her mental health, but immediately broke this in court the following week by casting doubt on her sanity in open court.
this morning, just before midday, barbara was in parliament square, and police once again approached her as she stood peacefully with her banner. despite being reminded that she HAS notified the police of her continuing protest, the police claimed she was 'unauthorised' and tried to physically remove her banner. she was then arrested for 'obstruction' and taken to charing cross police station (where she was due to appear on bail anyway). her solicitor is now with her and is trying to ensure that she is heard in court today as a matter of urgency as her safety while in the hands of the police may be at risk.
updates on this story later.
despite this, the only actual case they have ever brought to court was thrown out by judge snow (who is known on the circuit as a tough judge not given to liberal leanings!). the judge used the phrase 'void ab initio' which is the strongest possible legal term, literally translated ' empty from the start' and is often used to denote the possibility of corruption. it certainly means that in his view the police and crown prosecution had absolutely no grounds for bringing barbara to court.
faced with difficulties prosecuting barbara under socpa laws, they have tried various other methods to intimidate and harrass her in order to get her genocide banners off the streets near blair. she has had spurious arrests for obstruction of the highway, and they have tried on two occasions to detain her under the mental health act. on the second of these, she was detained while answering bail, and her solicitor was visibly shaken by the police tactics saying that she had never heard of anything like it before. at that time, police agreed to sign a document promising 'no further action' relating to her mental health, but immediately broke this in court the following week by casting doubt on her sanity in open court.
this morning, just before midday, barbara was in parliament square, and police once again approached her as she stood peacefully with her banner. despite being reminded that she HAS notified the police of her continuing protest, the police claimed she was 'unauthorised' and tried to physically remove her banner. she was then arrested for 'obstruction' and taken to charing cross police station (where she was due to appear on bail anyway). her solicitor is now with her and is trying to ensure that she is heard in court today as a matter of urgency as her safety while in the hands of the police may be at risk.
updates on this story later.
e-mail:
Comments
Display the following 4 comments