At the end of May, seven anti-arms trade protestors were found “not guilty” by district judge Quentin Purdy at Westminster magistrates court.
The seven were arrested in September 2009, as they demonstrated outside the Park Lane Hilton while a dinner was being held inside for delegates attending the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) arms fair at the ExCeL centre in east London.
The protestors refused to obey the direction of the senior police officer to confine the demonstration to a fenced area away from the hotel entrance (and obscured by parked vehicles including a large police van).
DJ Purdy stated that he was not convinced that the police decision to impose the condition was reasonable in all the circumstances, and that the condition to protest only in the obscured fenced area violated the right of the demonstrators to legitimate protest. The police action was unlawful on two grounds, either of which led to a not guilty verdict .
Topics: Arms trade