Then:
A lawful Salvation Army march attracted disorderly opposition and was therefore the occasion of a breach of the peace.
Held: It could not be found a case of unlawful assembly against the leaders of the Salvation Army. Accepting that a person is liable for the natural consequences of what he does, the court nevertheless held that the natural consequences of the lawful activity of the Salvation Army did not include the unlawful activities of others, even if the accused knew that others would react unlawfully.
Now:
In what appeared to be pre-emptive strikes against anything considered to have the potential to be “trouble”, around 100 people were arrested in advance of the Royal Wedding held on 29th April 2011.
At para. 152 the judgment states – “…. we find nothing in the various strands of the claimants’ case, whether taken individually or cumulatively, to make good the contention that the policing of the Royal Wedding involved an unlawful policy or practice, with an impermissibly low threshold of tolerance for public protest.”
Also:
It was around then that the graffiti artists realised what point the police were trying to make with them. Having been arrested, they were questioned about what they considered petty matters – accusations of criminal damage in the ’90s, questions about websites and magazines that they were involved in. After being briefly questioned about these seemingly irrelevant matters, they were told that they were to be bailed until November on the condition that they did not use any form of railway in London (overground, tube or tram), carry spray paint (or other graffiti tools, presumably) at any time, or travel within a mile of any Olympic area. That includes the Olympic Park, the ExCel center and other Earls Court locations, Greenwich park, Hampton Court Palace, Hyde Park, Lord’s Cricket Ground, North Greenwich Arena, The Mall, The Royal Artillery Barracks, Wembley Arena, Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon and a host of out-of-London locations.
Enjoy the games.
