R (Andrew Wood) v the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | The Honourable Mr. Justice McCombe: |
| Judgment Date | 22 May 2008 |
| Neutral Citation | [2008] EWHC 1105 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/8624/2005 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 22 May 2008 |
[2008] EWHC 1105 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE McCOMBE
Case No: CO/8624/2005
Mr Martin Westgate (instructed by Liberty) for the Claimant
Mr Sam Grodzinski (instructed by Metropolitan Police Legal Services) for the Defendant
(A) The Claim
This is an application for judicial review (brought with the permission of Lord Justice Sedley sitting in the Court of Appeal) of a decision by the Defendant's officers “to photograph the Claimant and to try to obtain details of his identity at the Reed Elsevier PLC Annual General Meeting on 27 April 2005”. The Claimant applies first, for a declaration that the Defendant acted in breach of the Claimant's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights by taking the photographs and seeking to establish his identity, secondly, an order requiring destruction of any photographs or photographic records that it holds of the Claimant as taken on the date in question and, thirdly, a declaration that the current practice of the Metropolitan Police in pursuing overt photographic surveillance of those engaged in political protests or demonstrations is unlawful as tending to infringe the rights of subjects under Articles 8, 10, 11 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Claimant also claims damages.
(B) The Facts
There are some disputed issues of fact in the case but those are not of such significance as to impair the Court's task in deciding the important points. It is agreed by the parties that authority dictates that, in judicial review cases, where differences of fact arise the Defendant's account should be used by the court. I set out here those facts material to the matter.
At the relevant time the Claimant was a media co-ordinator employed by an unincorporated association known as Campaign against Arms Trade (“CAAT”). CAAT's name clearly indicates its objects. The Claimant had and has no criminal convictions and has never been arrested as a result of any campaigning activities or otherwise.
Reed Elsevier PLC (“Reed”) was the parent company of Spearhead Exhibitions Limited (“Spearhead”) which is concerned in the organisation of trade fairs for various industries, including the arms industry. One of the events with which it has been concerned is an exhibition held every other year in London called Defence Systems and Equipment International (“DSEi”). Because of the association with Spearhead, Reed's offices in this country had been subjected to demonstrations, some involving criminal damage. Other damage had been caused to Reed's premises in the Netherlands.
Prior to Reed's Annual General Meeting on 27 April 2005 (due to take place at an hotel in Grosvenor Square in London) the police were contacted by a member of Spearhead staff explaining that the company had recently noted the purchase of single shares entitling the new holders to attend the forthcoming AGM. Some five or six share transactions were said to have involved members of CAAT. One individual known to hold a proxy for a shareholder was a woman, called in this case “ EA”, a member of CAAT until 2003, who had a history of unlawful activity against organisations involved in the defence industry and had been convicted of a number of offences in that context.
The Defendant took the view that there was a real possibility of demonstration at the AGM and that unlawful activity might occur. He (or his senior officers) therefore decided to deploy a number of officers around the hotel where the meeting was to be held. One inspector, three sergeants and 21 constables were so allocated. In addition, two “Forward Intelligence Teams” (“FITs”) of three and two officers respectively and an “Evidence Gathering (“EG”) Team” of three officers and a civilian photographer were engaged. These officers were in uniform and the photographer, although a civilian, wore a uniform identifying him as engaged with the police.
The EG team gathers intelligence by taking photographs and making notes of significant events which may be thought to be of potential evidential value; the FIT teams are used to monitor people's movements at events of the kind in question to assist in the efficient deployment of resources.
Before the meeting a CAAT member (“KB”) approached the officer in charge and asked to hand out leaflets at the hotel entrance to those attending the AGM. The officer agreed to this on the understanding that no obstruction would be caused and KB would be acting alone. KB did carry on her leafleting activity without problems arising.
The Claimant attended the AGM having previously bought a share in Reed. He attended with about six other CAAT members, but entered the meeting with only one other. He states that his purpose was to learn more about Reed's involvement with Spearhead and to ask appropriate questions.
At the meeting two people, EA (already mentioned) and one RH, were ejected by private security staff, apparently after chanting slogans. There is no suggestion that the Claimant was in any way involved in this activity. His participation appears to have been confined to asking one unobjectionable question. There appears to have been no other disturbance at the meeting.
The Claimant left the meeting as soon as formal business was over, without staying for the social reception held thereafter for which other shareholders did stay. He left the hotel in the company of another CAAT employee, a Mr. Ian Prichard. They spoke to KB and, while they were doing so, a man (whom the Claimant believed to be a police officer, but who was in fact the civilian photographer already mentioned) got out of a police vehicle and began to take photographs. There is a dispute as to how many photographs were taken but the Claimant's evidence is that the photographer was working continuously for some time and approached to within two metres of the Claimant and Mr. Prichard. The photographer says that he customarily tries to keep a safe distance from subjects in order not to invade their “personal space” and for his own safety and the safety of his equipment. In evidence, seven images have been produced of which only two show the Claimant clearly.
The Claimant complains that he was not told the reason why the photographs were being taken. On the other hand, it appears that he did not ask the officers for the reason either.
The Defendant's evidence is that, after eviction from the meeting, EA joined KB outside the hotel. It is stated that the Claimant and Mr. Prichard stopped to speak to KB (as they accept) and that they were joined by EA. The Claimant says that he cannot recall EA joining the group. In his evidence, a sergeant from the EG team states that he decided that it was appropriate to photograph the Claimant and to try to establish his identity. His reasons for doing so were the sighting of the Claimant in a group with EA and the possibility that unlawful activity in the meeting, from which EA had been ejected, might later come to light. Other officers also give evidence of having seen the Claimant with EA at this time.
The Claimant and Mr. Prichard walked away from the hotel towards an Underground railway station. They were followed by officers from the EG team. The Claimant says that a police vehicle pulled up near to him and Mr. Prichard and about four officers came and stood near to them. The Claimant was asked for his identity, as was Mr. Prichard. Mr. Prichard identified himself, but the Claimant asked whether he was obliged to do so and, on being told he was not, declined to answer. They both refused to answer questions about the AGM. They were told that they were free to leave the scene and that they were not being detained, although two officers then followed them to the station, trying at one stage to get the assistance of railway staff to obtain the Claimant's identity from the Claimant's travel document. The Defendant's evidence is that the two men were followed in order to see whether they were truly leaving the area or whether they might return to the venue of the AGM or become involved with a different demonstration which was thought by the police to be occurring in St. James's Square. There is no evidence to suggest that the exchanges between the police on the one hand and the Claimant and Mr. Prichard on the other hand were other than polite on each side.
The Defendant has adduced detailed evidence as to retention of photographs taken in such circumstances as these. It appears that they are retained subject to strict controls. Usually they are kept only for use by officers of the Public Order branch of the force. Copies are not permitted to be taken outside the offices of that branch. The one exception to this is that at future public events where there is a potential need to identify persons involved in unlawful activity, who may have participated in similar events previously, a sheet of relevant images may be given to a limited number of EG and/or FIT team members. However, the images do not identify the names of those depicted, each image merely being allocated a code. The sheets are returned after the event and are then destroyed.
It seems that, in this case, the police did subsequently find out the Claimant's identity. They apparently found from company records the names of the new shareholders in Reed. They were able to ascertain the identities of all others, apart from the Claimant,...
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