Netpol, the network for police monitoring, have produced a fantastic run-down of the excessive use of force employed at Balcombe this weekend. They also break down the questionable legal basis of the use of Section 14. Its well worth a read, and you can find it here.
Sussex police have also struggled to defend the use of excessive force against an arrestee after it was shown that a police officer (who was not wearing shoulder numbers) appeared to kneel on a man’s head as he lay still on the ground. The man was reported to have suffered visible facial injuries as a result, but Sussex police tweeted that the Sussex police used force to move and arrest protesters who had failed to comply with conditions on protest the police had decided to imposed under s14 of the Public Order Act. It was these conditions that criminalised protest at or near to the Cuadrilla site. Netpol considers that the use of these conditions was in itself excessive, and that Sussex police restricted protest in a way that was neither necessary of proportionate.
Why are the police getting used to protect big business over and over again…. that is not what tax payers money should be used for,,,, the public deserve a voice over something that destroys our planet and will cost US in the long run. We deserve not to be bullied.
Do you guys have any idea about how some of the arrested stand legally with regards to being arrested under section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations act - of watching or besetting a place of work? Has this been used on protestors before or is this very new?