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Arrested Protesters Complain to Police

Posted on: Thursday, 16 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Rhodri Phillips

Officers who held six ID card protesters for 20 hours and searched their homes are being investigated by their own force ( and could be reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, it emerged last night.

Six protesters were arrested on September 8 last year near the Marriott Hotel in Gosforth Park, Newcastle, as they made their way to stage a peaceful protest at a meeting of EU interior ministers.

Phil Capon, the group's leader, confirmed yesterday he and four other protesters have complained to Northumbria Police about their allegedly wrongful arrest and false imprisonment and that they would be seeking compensation.

Mr Capon, 49, a local government official, said: "People have the right to protest peacefully and that is what we were going to do. We have been told there is a case for compensation and that is what we will be pushing for.

"We are not just doing this for ourselves. We want to make sure this sort of thing never happens again.

"If people aren't allowed to express their feelings about issues like ID cards then that is the end of democracy.

"Why were we treated like this? We still haven't received any adequate answers from the police. They knew there was nothing sinister about our demonstration."

The protesters say they had been travelling to the hotel in two cars on the morning of September 8 when they were boxed in by police vans.

They say they were searched, arrested for alleged breach of the peace and taken to a nearby police station, where they were questioned for two hours in the cells.

The protesters were later charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage. Their homes were searched, their possessions were confiscated and they were also forced to give DNA samples, before they were finally released in the early hours of September 9.

The charges were dropped more than a month later, when the protesters returned to answer bail.

The group of protesters had to wait until last month before receiving documents from Northumbria Police, which they needed to support their claim.

Yesterday, their solicitor Jonathan Cousins, of David Grey solicitors, said: "We have received the custody records back from Northumbria Police and we have considered them and we have advised our clients there is a case to answer.

"The first port of call is the Professional Standards Department at Northumbria Police.

"They will now investigate the incident and depending on the outcome we might decide to take this to the Independent Police Complaints' Commission."

The news of the investigation comes in the same week the Government pushed through the identity card legislation, which Mr Capon and his group were protesting about.

The Government won the vote on Monday night with a majority of 31 and will now be able to force it through the Lords, where there has been fierce opposition to the plans.

The legislation would mean that from 2008 anyone applying for a passport will have to pay pounds 93 for a combined ID card/ biometric passport.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said last night: "We can confirm we have received a complaint which will be fully investigated."

Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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