It looks as if all 5 defendants in Monday's trial at Bow Street Magistrates' Court , who faced charges under the controversial Serious Organised Crime and Police Act section 132 relating to their arrests on August 7th 2005, have all been convicted, each of them being fined £50 and with a year's conditional discharge, and of course, a criminal record.
Thanks to Woody for the photo and a court report:
the judge seemed rather understanding to the plight of the defendants but was unable to aquit as she has to follow the law but she did seem to suggest that an appeal in a higher court was the way forward.everyone charged was convicted and fined £50 with a year's conditional discharge so if they get in any trouble this charge will be taken into account and could be made more serious. previous cases have received higher fines so that could be seen as progress. although for the people involved, the criminal convictions will do more damage than the fine.
fine started at £150 but the defence was able to get it down due to the individual circumstances of the defendants: 2 students living on loans, 1 on disability benefit, 1 earning £14k etc..
the trial was scheduled for 4 days but the defence lawyer didn't put up any defence besides a written skeleton argument and saved considerable court time which also helped to get the fine reduced.
2 sessions, around 10 till around 1 and the sentencing at 3pm.
emma defended herself and called a few witnesses, brian haw and 2 coppers who both looked like army recruits speaking in robotic voices. the police testimony was rather amusing and possibly the highlight of an otherwise rather boring day in court. emma was kept to the individual charges in her questioning so couldn't really get brian talking about the background as much as she seemed to want to. in the end she adopted the other defendents argument and was sentenced with the rest.
the tea party gang were down as you can see in the pics in full clown outfits, chalking the pavement and generally mucking about. they left to try to get into parliament when the case was over.. not sure how much luck they had, fully made up clowns vs parliament security?
there were people taking notes in the courtroom who looked competent and 2 other camera's outside.. the courtroom was pretty full but everyone got a seat that wanted to be there.
i guesstimate 20 people excluding the 5 defendants.
UPDATE: Emma has published her legal argument on Human Rights Act grounds (.pdf)
UPDATE2: Emma writes:
I presented a 20 minute legal/politcial argument against conviction and against SOCPA more generally AS WELL AS adopt the legal argument of the other barrister - this meant that I did not have to repeat his arguments as well. I defended myself in order to be able to make additional arguments.I was questioning my arresting officers in order to show that the way I had been arrested was inappropriate - as was the general policing of the event. I was not expecting that to influence the outcome of the trial.
Also,
None of us were arguing that we were not demonstrating or had not got permission so that is why the defence accepted the most of the prosecution case. The main argument from the defence was about the incompatibility of Section 132 of SOCPA with Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998.Most/all of us will make an appeal.
Hi,
I was arrested for Section 132 and Obstruction of the Highway whilst dressed as Charlie Chaplin. I was holding a placard with 'No Comment' written on it. They dropped the Section 132, but said that I would hear from the CPS about the Obstruction. I haven't heard anything.
More recently I was stopped by a community policeman in Parliament Square (also dressed as Chaplin, but carrying a think bubble with 'FREE SPEECH' written on it). They gave me 30 mins to leave the area, but then didn't arrest me when the time was up. The policeman wrote out a statement on the spot, and got me to sign it. He said that he would be reporting me to the CPS. Does this mean that they are no longer taking people away?
I intend to keep returning to Westminster.
My number is 0208 659 6150.
All the best,
Neil
hey every1
i think it's not real
I think