Police have apologised and paid substantial damages to the group who were fined for a court protest in support of four people charged over toppling of Edward Colston statue.
Retired teacher Rowland Dye, 68, gardener Paula Richardson, 61, artist Rosalind Martin, 60, and architect Taus Larsen, 43, all turned up outside Bristol Magistrates Court in January despite England being under stay-at-home coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
They had gathered ahead of the first court appearance of four people charged with the criminal damage to the statue of slave trader Edward Colston back in June last year.
The protestors had all been spoken to separately by police officers and had been asked to leave - which they agreed to do.
BBC News
Published
image copyrightPA Media
image captionPolice had asked protesters to join an online demonstration rather than gather outside Bristol Magistrates Court on 25 January
A police force has apologised and paid damages to four people who were fined for protesting outside a court during the last lockdown.
Avon and Somerset Police had warned people gathering outside Bristol Magistrates Court on 25 January that they would be breaking the law.
Four others accused of criminal damage to a statue of slave trader Edward Colston appeared at the court later.
It said its officers held an honest belief that Rolland Dye, 68, Taus Larsen, 43, Ros Martin, 60, and Paula Richardson, 61, were committing offences when they were arrested and later given fixed penalty notices.
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First published on Thu 22 Apr 2021 12.17 EDT
Four people arrested while staging demonstrations in Bristol are to receive apologies and substantial damages from Avon and Somerset police after the force admitted its declaration of a blanket ban on protest was unlawful.
The apologies, which followed a legal challenge, are thought to be the first time a police force has admitted it misapplied coronavirus powers to ban protests. In a statement agreed with the claimants, the police said the arrests had been made on the basis of “a misunderstanding of the legal effect of the regulations” and admitted all four “were unlawfully arrested”.
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