A teenaged supporter of the Love Activists today described herself as ‘ecstatic’ after she was cleared of charges brought after being arrested outside the old Bank of England building on Castle Street.
Ellie Longman, 19, and Ann Cawson, 58, were both acquitted at Liverpool Magistrates Court this afternoon after being accused of failing to comply with a Section 35 notice which required anybody served with it to leave the immediate area during the protest last April .
Longman and Cawson, together with co-defendants Kim Scott, 39, and Amanda Doyle, 27, were outside the ex-bank premises to feed the homeless, they said, who were thought to be inside the building.
But they were arrested by Merseyside Police officers when they refused to leave the area, and cops insisted they were contributing to anti-social behaviour.
Today, there were joyful scenes as Longman and Cawson were cleared, with songs of ‘Give Peace A Chance’ heard by a temporary soup-kitchen outside Liverpool Crown Court.
Miss Longman told the ECHO: “I’m ecstatic that it’s over. It’s been a long 10 months, I’m glad justice and the truth has come through in the end.
“I’ll continue to feed the homeless as it’s a relevant and just cause.”
The case against Doyle, of Woolfall Crescent, Huyton, and Kim Scott, of The Grange in Warrington Road, Chester, was adjourned by magistrates.
Ann Cawson, Ellie Longman, Amanda Doyle and Kim Scott
A judgement will be handed down on their charge next month.
Kathryn Murray, Doyle’s friend, told the court earlier how she had filmed police officers arresting her because she felt ‘police were getting heavy.’
She was heard on a clip uploaded to YouTube shouting ‘police brutality’ and ‘assault’ while another man repeatedly stated the cop’s collar number.
Doyle claimed she was checking with police if she was allowed to ‘feed the homeless’ before throwing sandwiches up to protesters on the bank balcony.
The anti-austerity protesters occupied the old bank on April 18, in a demo which ended weeks later on May 12 when police entered the premises.
In bizarre scenes in court, Doyle was given permission to read a bible passage from the Book of Isaiah, stating: “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
Scott, sitting in the dock, started to weep, and requested a tissue to dab tears away from her eyes.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/