The Administrative Court this morning delivered judgment in the case of DPP v Stratford Magistrates Court and Others [2017] EWHC 1794 (Admin).
Caoimhe Daly, led by David Perry QC, acted for the DPP in successfully judicially reviewing the District Judge’s decision to acquit the defendants. The defendants were protestors at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in East London in September 2015. They were charged with wilful obstruction of a highway contrary to section 137 of the Highways Act 1980. The defendants obstructed the highway around the Excel Centre by locking themselves to the front of military style vehicles and lying in the middle of the road. The judgment of the Administrative Court clarifies the ambit and availability of section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 as a defence in the context of direct action protestors. It also, for the first time, describes what can amount to the use of force for the purposes of section 3.
Read full judgement HERE
Caoimhe Daly