- Simon Anderton- Not guilty verdict
- By Toon Of RFFJ UK
- Newsletter (E-Mail) RFFJ
- 20/05/2009 Make a Comment (1)
- Contributed by: Daveyone ( 29 articles in 2009 )
A Newcastle crown court jury of 6 men and 6 women took only 15 minutes to return their unanimous verdict of Not guilty, relating to all charges against Simon Anderton following the Tyne bridge father’s day protest of 15th June 2008.
Early in the second day of the case Judge Prince directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict to one of the 2 charges; this followed conflicting police testimony for the prosecution stating that the hanging mannequin posed no obvious threat to the public below, hence dropping the causing a danger to road users charge.
After the not guilty verdict for the remaining public offence charge; Simon (pictured left) said “Today is not only a victory for me and our campaign; it is also a victory for common sense and for every parent who wishes to highlight the failings of family law”
“Despite being exonerated of any wrongdoing in a criminal court today, it does little for the pain of not being able to be a father to my two beautiful daughters who I love dearly; having eventually been granted contact by the family courts, they failed to enforce their own order - I sadly have not seen either girl for over 8 years”
“Following this protest I was arrested and wrongfully imprisoned for a week, the police then harassed me unduly for the months that preceded my trial, my bail conditions required me to sign 3 days a week at a local Police station - I also had a 7pm-7am curfew, during the 6 months of the bail conditions police visited my residence an amazing 135 times to check whether I was abiding by the terms of the curfew”
“I would like to thank every member of the jury for seeing through this charade of a trial as a waste of tax payer’s money and to everyone who has supported me, every time we have tested a protest case before a jury of our peers we have gotten ourselves a not guilty verdict – that shows that we have the public on our side and they agree our protests are justified”
Rffj spokesman Mike Kelly added “This case shows people should not be afraid to protest against a family law system that still is not working effectively, we need more brave people like Simon to make a stand, and everyone can do something even if it is only a letter of support to their local paper or MP”
“This government will not stop the protests by their oppressive use of the police and crown prosecution service, family law is broken and we again call for wide sweeping reforms and unrestricted reporting of cases”
“Maybe next time an activist unfurls an Rffj banner on a building or in a public place, they will think twice before they try and silence us”
The chairman of the jury indicated he had a statement to read in open court following the delivery of the verdict, he was denied that privilege by Judge Prince, Rffj are happy to publish that statement upon our website: please email info@realfathersforjustice.org
Early in the second day of the case Judge Prince directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict to one of the 2 charges; this followed conflicting police testimony for the prosecution stating that the hanging mannequin posed no obvious threat to the public below, hence dropping the causing a danger to road users charge.
After the not guilty verdict for the remaining public offence charge; Simon (pictured left) said “Today is not only a victory for me and our campaign; it is also a victory for common sense and for every parent who wishes to highlight the failings of family law”
“Despite being exonerated of any wrongdoing in a criminal court today, it does little for the pain of not being able to be a father to my two beautiful daughters who I love dearly; having eventually been granted contact by the family courts, they failed to enforce their own order - I sadly have not seen either girl for over 8 years”
“Following this protest I was arrested and wrongfully imprisoned for a week, the police then harassed me unduly for the months that preceded my trial, my bail conditions required me to sign 3 days a week at a local Police station - I also had a 7pm-7am curfew, during the 6 months of the bail conditions police visited my residence an amazing 135 times to check whether I was abiding by the terms of the curfew”
“I would like to thank every member of the jury for seeing through this charade of a trial as a waste of tax payer’s money and to everyone who has supported me, every time we have tested a protest case before a jury of our peers we have gotten ourselves a not guilty verdict – that shows that we have the public on our side and they agree our protests are justified”
Rffj spokesman Mike Kelly added “This case shows people should not be afraid to protest against a family law system that still is not working effectively, we need more brave people like Simon to make a stand, and everyone can do something even if it is only a letter of support to their local paper or MP”
“This government will not stop the protests by their oppressive use of the police and crown prosecution service, family law is broken and we again call for wide sweeping reforms and unrestricted reporting of cases”
“Maybe next time an activist unfurls an Rffj banner on a building or in a public place, they will think twice before they try and silence us”
The chairman of the jury indicated he had a statement to read in open court following the delivery of the verdict, he was denied that privilege by Judge Prince, Rffj are happy to publish that statement upon our website: please email info@realfathersforjustice.org
Source: https://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=259
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