23 March, London: After a two week hearing, Judge Justice Tugendhat at the High Court rejects claims by Louis Austin and Geoffrey Saxby for compensation for their “right to liberty” under the European Convention on Human Rights having been breached on May Day 2001 when police trapped them with thousands of protesters in Oxford Circus for seven hours without access to toilets, food or water. The judge found the police had been “duty bound” to impose an absolute cordon to prevent violence and the risk of injury to persons and property, and if water and toilets [sic] had been provided, “they would have been used as weapons against the police by a minority of the crowd”. The two are to appeal. 150 similar cases are pending.
29 March, London: Brian Haw has his appeal against a conviction for “failing to leave a cordoned area” in the Square (10 May 2004) upheld after prosecution witnesses fail to turn up and the CPS decide it is no longer in the public interest to proceed. The judge awards Brian defence costs.
12 April, Menwith Hill: After a five day trial at Harrogate Magistrates' Court, District Judge Roy Anderson found Lindis Percy guilty of five offences (out of 30), one of “obstructing the highway” and four of “obstructing a police officer”. Anni Rainbow was found guilty of one offence (out of two) during the same protests, that of “aggravated trespass”, for which she was fined #60 with #60 costs. The prosecution made an application for an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) on behalf of the MOD Police, which the judge heard the following day, but called for a “pre-sentence report” by the Probation Service on Lindis before a further hearing of the application on 17 May.