Police acted unlawfully in demanding legal observer hand over personal details and submit to filming after being kettled in trade union protest

Police acted unlawfully when they demanded that a legal observer who was kettled during a protest hand over her personal details and allow them to film her before she would be permitted to leave, the High Court has ruled.

Campaigners are claiming that the victory will force police to rethink their approach to demonstrations.
Susannah Mengesha said that the policing of the protest, which was run by trade unions and groups such as Occupy London, in November 2011 was “oppressive, aggressive and intimidating”. And two judges agreed with her today that police should never have forced her to hand over the information and should now delete it.
Around 100 people were trapped in a kettle in London’s West End by police after some of their number tried to occupy a building. After around 90 minutes, police started letting people leave in single file but required them to give their names, addresses and dates of birth, as well as to be filmed from head-to-toe.

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