OXFORD STUDENT RECEIVES FOUR-FIGURE POLICE PAYOUT FOR WATER BOTTLE ARREST
DEBACLE
October 2008, OXFORD - Jonathan Leighton, the 19 year old St Anne's
College student from Reading, who was arrested "for littering" on 13th
January this year when trying to throw a bottle of water to a tree
protester, has received a four-figure out of court settlement and a formal
apology from Thames Valley Police.
Gabriel Chamberlain had been camping in the Bonn Square tree for 12 days
in protest at the council's felling of around 40 mature trees in the
area as part of their development plans. Many felt their actions were
inhumane after they spent around £12,000 [1] on a metal fence "ring of
steel" and private security contractors, designed to prevent Mr.
Chamberlain being given food and water by supporters.
This settlement comes at an embarrassing time for the City Council, just
before the unveiling of the "new" Bonn Square on November 28th. This
announcement is an awkward reminder of the widely-criticised manner in
which the trees were removed without warning from Bonn Square and the
surrounding area in January, sparking angry local protests, which included
the arrest of Mr Leighton as well as county councillor Deborah
Glass-Woodin [2].
In response to the settlement, Mr. Leighton said, "I am very pleased
with this result. What I experienced was blatant political policing; my
actions were not so much against the law as against the police. The fact
that I was handcuffed and held in a police cell is humiliating. I
wouldn't wish it to happen to anybody else, which is why I think it is
crucial to explore legal avenues and hold the police accountable for
their actions."
Sarah Horne, a local campaigner who was also involved in the Bonn Square
protests said, "Unfortunately many people experience unlawful arrests,
violence, and other oppression when they take peaceful direct action on
climate change and other environmental and social issues. Hopefully this
result will remind the police that they are meant to be protecting the
public, not harassing peaceful protesters."
The money from the settlement will be used to help with local
environmental campaigns.
For more information or interviews, please call 0792 9898 121.
REFERENCES
1. Sian Cox-Brooker, Cherwell Newspaper, Friday 8th February 2008
2.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1954395.councillor_arrested_in_tree_felling_protest/
ENDS
DEBACLE
October 2008, OXFORD - Jonathan Leighton, the 19 year old St Anne's
College student from Reading, who was arrested "for littering" on 13th
January this year when trying to throw a bottle of water to a tree
protester, has received a four-figure out of court settlement and a formal
apology from Thames Valley Police.
Gabriel Chamberlain had been camping in the Bonn Square tree for 12 days
in protest at the council's felling of around 40 mature trees in the
area as part of their development plans. Many felt their actions were
inhumane after they spent around £12,000 [1] on a metal fence "ring of
steel" and private security contractors, designed to prevent Mr.
Chamberlain being given food and water by supporters.
This settlement comes at an embarrassing time for the City Council, just
before the unveiling of the "new" Bonn Square on November 28th. This
announcement is an awkward reminder of the widely-criticised manner in
which the trees were removed without warning from Bonn Square and the
surrounding area in January, sparking angry local protests, which included
the arrest of Mr Leighton as well as county councillor Deborah
Glass-Woodin [2].
In response to the settlement, Mr. Leighton said, "I am very pleased
with this result. What I experienced was blatant political policing; my
actions were not so much against the law as against the police. The fact
that I was handcuffed and held in a police cell is humiliating. I
wouldn't wish it to happen to anybody else, which is why I think it is
crucial to explore legal avenues and hold the police accountable for
their actions."
Sarah Horne, a local campaigner who was also involved in the Bonn Square
protests said, "Unfortunately many people experience unlawful arrests,
violence, and other oppression when they take peaceful direct action on
climate change and other environmental and social issues. Hopefully this
result will remind the police that they are meant to be protecting the
public, not harassing peaceful protesters."
The money from the settlement will be used to help with local
environmental campaigns.
For more information or interviews, please call 0792 9898 121.
REFERENCES
1. Sian Cox-Brooker, Cherwell Newspaper, Friday 8th February 2008
2.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1954395.councillor_arrested_in_tree_felling_protest/ ENDS
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Police money?
10.11.2008 11:37
Anon
Umm
10.11.2008 13:47
The tax payers also pay for police wages whilst they waste their own time fucking over people left right and centre. Good for you I say. Please do give some of your cash to grass roots groups of your choice though!
ConcernedActivist
Really?
12.11.2008 00:46
Reason I ask is that I know the Met actually budgets for such payouts. In 1999 (I think) they budgeted £1m, and no doubt it is higher now.
Stroppyoldgit
My monet? Coppers? Or the Force?
12.11.2008 21:28
@Anon
I always worry about the phrase "tax payers money," for two reasons:
1. What about citizens (subjects?) that pay no tax. Do they have no say? Is your say dependant on the taxes you pay? If I pay more taxes, do I have more say then you?
2. What about other sources of governemnt income? If my government sells something (let's, for the sake of arguement say, some nano-tech technologies that it has rights to) to a third party. This isn't tax-payers money, so do I have no right to how its spent?
Within our current political 'settlement' I think I have a right to say how my 'democratically elected' government spends money regardless of whether or not it is 'my' money' - it is (allegidly) 'my government.' [apologies for the overuse of quotation marks].
@Anon
"Those arresting officers should have some kind of sanctions against them."
Perhaps they should, and individual responsibily for your actions is clearly important. But, to be honest, I'm more interested in the forces that made the individual officers take this action. My suspicion is that the order came from on high. The police force is a complete heirarcy, and I'd prefer look into whether the individual officers had any pressure on them to make arrests. Hard as it may be to believe, I suspect that individual police officers aren't always cmplete tossers by themselves, rather there's an order from 'on high' that "these people must be stopped - make it happen. I don't care about the details, just make it happen." Who are we to blame in these situations? Yes, we should blame the individuals carrying out the orders, but shouldn't we spend more effort looking at who's giving the orders?
@ ConcernedActivist & Stroppyoldgit
The rozzers almost certainly do have insurance policies for claims against them. In my view, it's yet another way that the public fund the private sector (e.g. government bails out banks to lend you your own money at a higher rate of interest = financial market resuce). If you want the numbers, an FOI request should do it.
Penguin worried wehere all the ice is going