HELP! A crowdfunding appeal challenging the over-reach of the UK Policing and Judicial System
We are looking for support from the wider community to enable us to challenge the over-reach of the UK policing and judicial system.
PLEASE SUPPORT US IF YOU CAN!
Target: £7,200
SHORT URL LINK to our funding page: https://tinyurl.com/3tusspe2
Our names are Richard House and Marcus Blackett. We were arrested during lockdown in Stroud wearing sandwich-boards with the caption “Citizens’ Conversation” on one side, and a narrative-challenging question on the other. The two of us are trained psychological therapists: we were distressed by the tsunami of mental-health and emotional problems being unleashed nationally by the draconian restrictions, and we wanted to do something to alleviate this in our beloved community of Stroud town.
We are appealing this absurd conviction and fine that violates all conceivable canons of natural law, with a view to challenging the legal system and the police in a high-profile way for their draconian over-reach during lockdown. We plan to eventually convene a People’s Court in Stroud under Common Law jurisdiction. We need to raise £7,200.
Unlike other comparable situations which are well documented, there was no warning given by the arresting police officer, and no opportunity given to just ‘move along’ etc. before the arrest. Please help us with our initial appeal by funding this action for democracy, sovereignty and civil rights. In supporting this legal case, you can help to row back the criminal over-reach to which our fellow free men and women have been subjected by the State over the past two years.
* See our article in no. 20 (April) of The Light newspaper (p. 5) *
Andrew Rootsey of Murray Hughman Solicitors, instructed on behalf of Marcus and Richard, adds: “We hope to overturn these convictions. The frequently shifting sands of the Coronavirus regulations created substantial confusion, and have saddled many well-intentioned citizens with criminal records and punitive fines. The legislation was rushed through Parliament, poorly drafted and ill thought out. The regulations that were in place at the time were completely inaccessible and opaque, and many, including the Police and the Courts, failed to understand or fully grasp them, leaving well-meaning people vulnerable to arbitrary and discriminatory decisions being made against them.
These convictions are appalling, unsettling and in my opinion plainly wrong. The response to criminalise two men with very real and reasonable concerns about the mental health implications upon the local community because of the draconian legislation passed is completely disproportionate. The interference with their fundamental Human Rights of Freedom of Expression and Assembly in the circumstances cannot be said to be a proportionate response in pursuit of a legitimate aim.
The funds raised will cover the preparation of both cases, drafting applications, the taking of witness statements, conferences, the drafting of legal submissions and arguments, and the making of representations to the Crown Prosecution Service. By hitting the Crowd Justice “stretch” target, this will enable us to instruct Counsel to attend all Court hearings and appeal hearings, make the legal arguments and present the case, seeking to overturn the convictions; and we’ll be in a position to instruct barristers experienced in this niche area of law and who have previously achieved successful outcomes in similar cases.”
Please donate to our legal fund at https://tinyurl.com/3wbr69mr