12th May 2014 Now that all the trials arising from the Balcombe anti-fracking protests are over, Ruth Hayhurst – who attended almost all the cases – reflects on what the policing strategy sought to achieve.
7th May 2014 The head of Sussex Police, Giles York, is to be questioned later this month on how the force deals with public order events, including the anti-fracking protests at Balcombe.
1st May 2014 All the anti-fracking campaigners charged with public order offences by Sussex Police after last year’s protests at Balcombe have now been found not guilty.
19/2/14 Seven people were arrested for causing harassment, alarm or distress at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests last summer – but none were convicted. Freedom of Information requests revealed that police used Sections 4a and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 as the grounds for arrests outside Cuadrilla’s […]
6/2/14 Sussex police says it hopes an external review of the policing operation at last year’s Balcombe anti-fracking protests will be completed in “the next few weeks”. The review into Operation Mansell is currently being carried out by Hertfordshire Constabulary. The Sussex Chief Constable Martin Richards told the […]
3/2/14 The chief constable of Sussex Police, Martin Richards, has said the nearly £4m cost of policing last year’s anti-fracking protests at Balcombe was “value for money”. In an interview with the Mid Sussex Times, he explained: “The public suffered no real serious injury, protestors were allowed to […]
The final cost of policing last summer’s demonstrations outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe was £3.985 million. A press release from the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, said the total included police salaries, overtime, rest day working and support from other police forces. Mrs Bourne has […]
A police officer monitoring the crowds at last summer’s Balcombe anti-fracking protests told a court this afternoon (22/1/14) how he was punched in the chest by a young woman demonstrator. PC Mario Ciaramella, usually based at Worthing Police Station, was giving evidence at the trial of three environmental […]
The cases against nearly half the people arrested at the anti-fracking protests outside Cuadrilla’s drilling site Balcombe have been dropped by police or prosecutors. The finding was revealed following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com to Sussex Police. According to the police response, a […]
The Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards, will be called to give evidence at an anti-fracking trial, which could become a test case for the use of the Public Order Act against protestors. The case involves poet Simon Welsh, the first Balcombe resident to be arrested during the […]
DRILL OR DROP? 