I actually hadn’t heard of this. Seems he got off though:
He had been arrested under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which makes it an offence to wear anything supporting a proscribed organisation. A senior officer asked the arresting officer if he could arrest Pickering under section 12, which could have brought a more serious charge of supporting a proscribed group.
“[The arresting officer] said: ‘No, I can’t.’ And they said: ‘Why not?’ He said: ‘Because he hasn’t got Palestine Action written on him. He’s got Plasticine Action written on him.’”
About five minutes later, the arresting officer approached him again. “He said: ‘I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.’ I said: ‘What’s the good news?’ He said: ‘I’m de-arresting you.’
“And I said: ‘What’s the bad news?’ He said: ‘It’s going to be really embarrassing for me.’ And then I walked free, while all the real heroes are the people that are actually getting arrested.”
There’s been others to. I’m not gonna tell you not to do it, because fuck that, but just remember that most cops don’t know or don’t give a shit about the actual law, and this legislation has been rushed through to be deliberately vague so it can be misused.
I actually hadn’t heard of this. Seems he got off though:
There’s been others to. I’m not gonna tell you not to do it, because fuck that, but just remember that most cops don’t know or don’t give a shit about the actual law, and this legislation has been rushed through to be deliberately vague so it can be misused.