Stuart Holmes v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Martin Spencer |
| Judgment Date | 03 May 2018 |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] EWHC 1026 (QB) |
| Docket Number | Case No: C11YM156 (122/2017) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
| Date | 03 May 2018 |
[2018] EWHC 1026 (QB)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Liverpool District Registry
Liverpool Civil and Family Court
Vernon Street
LIVERPOOL
L2 2BX
Mr Justice Martin Spencer
Case No: C11YM156 (122/2017)
Mr Graham Platford for the Claimant/Appellant
Mr Graham Wells (instructed by The Legal Services Department Merseyside Police) for the Defendant/Respondent
Hearing date: 20 March 2018
JUDGMENT APPROVED
Introduction
By his Notice of Appeal dated 16 November 2017, the Claimant sought permission to appeal the order of Mr Recorder Eccles dated 25 October 2017 whereby the Learned Recorder granted the Defendant summary judgment pursuant to the provisions of CPR part 24. By her order dated 16 February 2018, Yip J ordered that the application for permission to appeal be listed for an oral hearing with the appeal to follow should permission be granted and the matter accordingly came before me on 20 March 2018.
Rather than deal with the application for permission to appeal separately, I allowed the parties to argue the matter as though permission had been granted. Having heard the arguments of the parties, it is clear to me that the appeal is plainly arguable and therefore it is appropriate that the Claimant should have permission to appeal and permission is accordingly granted. The rest of this judgment deals with the substantive appeal itself.
The facts
The facts of the matter are not seriously in dispute in relation to any relevant question. They arise out of the Labour Party Conference held at the Echo Arena in the Albert Dock in Liverpool between 25–30 September 2011. The Claimant, Mr Holmes, is an inveterate campaigner against nuclear power among other things and he has regularly attended party conferences and other events over the years in order to express his views – peacefully – and engage in discussion of significant issues and listen to relevant speakers. On 26 September 2011 he attended on a footbridge some 200m from the main entrance to the Echo Arena Conference Centre, holding a laminated poster that read “Nukiller power a crime against God”. He was standing with other protesters who also held banners relating to other issues.
The Echo Arena is in fact on private land owned by a body apparently called Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Landowner. In advance of the conference, HCA issued a notice as follows:
“ LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
NOTICE TO MERSEYSIDE POLICE
1. Notice is hereby given to the Merseyside Police for and on behalf of Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Landowner hereafter known as “The Company” in connection with the holding of the Labour Party Conference at the Arena & Conference Centre at Liverpool (ACCL) on 25 – 29 September 2011, inclusive.
2. The Company is the owner of the land shown delineated blue/green on the attached plan.
3. The Company allows access onto the said land by persons for the purpose of access to premises and facilities situated on the land and for quiet enjoyment and would not give express or implied consent for any persons to enter the land for non-peaceful purposes and in particular in order to conduct any protest or demonstration. Consequently, The Company considers that any persons who are on the land, and who are conducting any protest or demonstration, to be trespassing and in particular, if those persons act in any intimidating manner, or cause any obstruction, or intend or attempt to disrupt any peaceful or lawful activity of others on the land.
Signed J A Sloan (for and on behalf of The Company) (Kings Waterfront Estates Site Facilities Manager).
Dated 18 September 2011.”
A similar notice had been issued to the Merseyside Police by a company called Gower Street Estates Limited on 2 August 2011 in relation to other land delineated in red on a plan attached to that notice. Yet a further similar notice had been issued to Merseyside Police on 2 August 2011 by an organisation called Arena Convention Centre Liverpool.
The circumstances in which these notices were issued, and what exchanges there had been between the companies in question and the Merseyside Police before or subsequently to the issue of these notices, are not revealed. However, a piece of public land was designated as a “protest site” and it seems clear that officers of the Merseyside Police wished the Claimant to conduct his protest from the designated site rather than from the location where the Claimant wished to stand, which was more proximate to those entering and leaving the building for the purposes of the conference.
At about 8.30am on 26 September 2011, a community police officer pointed out to the Claimant the designated protest site but said that he was not going to move the Claimant. That officer walked away and the Claimant stayed where he was.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the Claimant moved a distance of some 15m to a yellow gate structure on the footbridge and joined others who were displaying banners and distributing leaflets.
Approximately 5 minutes later two police officers walked from behind the Claimant and one made a radio call. This was followed by the Claimant being surrounded by some 4–5 police officers and a Police Sergeant Drennan asked the Claimant for his name, which the Claimant provided. PS Drennan then informed the Claimant there was a designated protest site on public land and that he was protesting on private land. He asked the Claimant to continue his protest at the designated site. The Claimant refused, citing Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). According to the Defence, PS Drennan asked the Claimant to leave the land and told the Claimant that if he did not do so he would be committing an offence and would be arrested and if he returned to the land within 3 months he would commit an offence. It is also pleaded in the Defence that PS Drennan “warned the Claimant under Section 69 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act”, asked the Claimant to go to the designated site and another officer, PC Mackey said that he would escort the Claimant to the designated site so that he would know exactly where it was. According to the Defence the Claimant began to shout, “I'm not going you'll have to arrest me.”
PC Mackey then took the Claimant's right arm, PS Drennan took his left and they escorted the Claimant off the private land, down Gower Street to the designated protest area on some cobbles at Salthouse Quay. All the time, the Claimant was complaining loudly that his Article 10 rights were being infringed and that he was being assaulted and he attempted to push back against the officers.
When they reached the designated protest site, PC Mackey told the Claimant that he could continue his protest there but that if he were to re-enter the conference site, he would be arrested. The Claimant pushed past PC Mackey and went some 5m back onto the private land. PC Mackey stopped him and again returned him to the designated site again warning him not to enter private land.
Yet again, the Claimant ran past PC Mackey onto the private land and PC Mackey stopped him and tried to return him to the designated site. The Claimant ran onto the private land shouting “This is a breach of Article 10 of the Human Rights Act and these officers are the offenders”. At that point, it now being 08.45, PC Mackey arrested the Claimant for the offence of obstructing an officer in the execution of his duty and the Claimant was placed into the rear of a police carrier.
Some 5 minutes later, PC Mackey further arrested the Claimant for breach of the peace and for aggravated trespass contrary to Section 68 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. It is pleaded in the Defence that these further arrests were “because PC Mackey believed that if the Claimant were to try to enter the site again he would disrupt or attempt to prevent the conference or intimidate delegates or members of the public.” However, it is not at all clear to me what basis PC Mackey may have had for such belief. Until the police intervened and removed the Claimant to the designated protest site, it would appear he had been simply standing holding his protest placard.
The Claimant was detained at St Anne's police station for a period of 15 or 16 hours. At 00.42 on 27 September 2011, he was released on bail with a condition “not to enter the Albert Dock area surrounding the Echo Arena Liverpool until Friday 30 September 2011”. He was told to re-attend the police station on 30 September to see whether the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to charge him.
On 27 September 2011, at about 12:05 hours the Claimant made his way towards Tate Liverpool (which is in the public area of the Albert Dock) in order to attend a fringe meeting about town planning. Earlier, at about 08:30 hours, the Claimant had been seen on CCTV approaching the Albert Dock and an officer had been sent to speak to him but by the time the officer got there, the Claimant had left the area. The Claimant's description was circulated to all patrols just after mid-day and two officers were tasked with observing the Claimant when he entered the Albert Dock area. At 12.09, PC Kirsopp stopped the Claimant and asked him where he was going. The Claimant said he was going to a fringe meeting at the Tate. The “Silver Commander”, Chief Superintendent Armitt, was informed and authorised the Claimant's arrest. PC Kirsopp cautioned the Claimant and told him he was under arrest on suspicion of being in breach of his bail conditions.
The Silver Commander then re-considered the bail conditions and having concluded that they might not cover the area in which the Tate was situated after all and that the circumstances indicated that the Claimant was...
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