IT seems the Metropolitan Police have got themselves in a stew after a Freedom of Information request for police policy on how undercover officers are accountable to members of the public.
The request, submitted on January 16, 2013, pointed out that uniformed officers are obliged to display their identification numbers while on duty so complaints can be raised by members of the public, but queried how the same could be done with officers in plain-clothes.
Sketch by Matthew Meadows: Alfie Meadows described the moment he was struck on the head
A SLOW motion video purportedly showing a police officer striking former student Alfie Meadows over the head with a baton was stopped from being shown to a jury by a judge today moments after it had been played at normal speed.
The judge intervened saying attribution for the strike was a matter for the civil courts and not relevant to the case in hand.
Sketch by Matthew Meadows: Eleanor McGriffiths described her ‘complete shock’ after being ‘assaulted’ by police
A YOUNG women on one of her first demonstrations told a court how she was left in ‘complete shock’ after mounted officers rode their horses at the crowd she was in and assaulted her.
Eleanor McGriffiths, who was a student at Queen Mary University, in London, at the time of the anti-tuition fee demo on December 9, 2010, said up until then she had been ‘very naïve and unaware’ that ‘the police could hit you’ on a protest.
Sketch by Matthew Meadows: Counsels Lofthouse (front) & Wainright (back) at Woolwich Crown Court
A MAN charged with violent disorder following a student demonstration in 2010 told a court of his attempts to stop people from being hit with batons and shields during violent scenes between police and protesters.
Zak King said he was able to block the strikes after wearing padded football gloves and shin pads on his arms after being warned of excessive police force at similar events that left a friend with a fractured arm.
Meadows and King’s second retrial at the high security Woolwich Crown Court
TWO officers told a court how they feared for their safety after being surrounded by ‘thousands of protesters’ during a demonstration against tuition fees in December 2010 that left philosophy student Alfie Meadows fighting for his life following a baton strike to the head.
The officers were the first witnesses to give evidence at the retrial of Meadows and Zac King, who are both charged with violent disorder, at Woolwich Crown Court after the jury spent the previous day (Tuesday) watching video footage of the protest on December 9.
DOZENS of people planning to support two defendants at Woolwich Crown Court today were forced to spend hours in freezing conditions after security refused them entry saying the courtroom was full despite being empty and the trial yet to begin.
When the retrial of student protesters Alfie Meadows and Zac King began at around noon, eleven of the 18 seats in the public gallery were empty.
Gareth Peirce calls out police and state over protest tactics
AS Alfie Meadows prepares for his third trial for violent disorder at the 2010 student protests despite being nearly killed by a police baton strike, campaigning solicitor Gareth Peirce has criticised police over its history of cover-ups and immunity from prosecution after acting unlawfully during protests.
Peirce, who has acted in some of the country’s highest profile cases including the Birmingham Six, Jean Charles De Menzes, Moazzam Begg and Julian Assange, highlighted a recent UN report that described the way the British government has dealt with the right to protest as ‘shocking’.
The retrial of two protesters charged with public order offences following a student demonstration in 2010 has been aborted three weeks into the trial after a series of illnesses.
Alfie Meadows and Zac King, who were arrested following the December 9 demo when parliament voted to allow universities to triple tuition fees, will face a third trial in February. Continue reading
IF the size of the audience at a debate on the pros and cons of the soon to be elected Police and Crime Commissioners at the London School of Economics last night was anything to go by, turn-out will be around ten percent.
The fact it was held in London where PCCs will play no role may have also been a factor, but LSE’s Professor Tim Newburn, who chaired the debate, jokingly confirmed that the Conservative policy had certainly instigated a serious outbreak of apathy.
Pic: Rolando Allen: Journalist & campaigner Gary McFarlene addresses a meeting at Chat’s Palace in Hackney on the fightback against stop-and-search
DESPITE the Metropolitan Police Commissioner announcing a new approach to stop-and-search in January after a report linked its aggressive and repeated misuse to the riots last year, thousands of innocent people are still being detained every week prompting concerns that the foundations are being laid for further unrest.
Police officers stop-and-search a thousand people a day in London, according to the Met’s own statistics, arresting little over ten per cent. Figures on how many are actually charged are currently unavailable.
The Meddler 