Brighton MP released on bail after fracking protest arrest

The MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas has been released on police bail after being arrested during anti-fracking protests in Balcombe yesterday (Monday 19 August).

The 52-year-old Green MP, who lives in Brighton, was arrested on suspicion of ignoring directions to leave the protest area.

She has been bailed to report to Sussex Police next Tuesday (27 August) when she will find out whether she is to be charged under the Public Order Act.

One of Dr Lucas’s two sons was also among the 29 people who were arrested in Balcombe yesterday.

This morning (Tuesday 20 August) she told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that she did not go to the protest at Balcombe intending to be arrested.

She said: “I’ve been campaigning against fracking and doing everything I can to combat climate change all of my political life.

“As with all new technologies, there are a lot of fears and perhaps some exaggeration.

“I certainly don’t accept every single thing that people say about fracking.

“But I think the reason that there are so many concerns is because it still doesn’t feel as if we have had a very honest debate about this.

“I think people are still very, very suspicious of a government, for example, who will claim it is going to lead to lower prices.

“Yet the evidence we have seen from people like Ofgem and Deutsche Bank is that because the gas markets and geology are so very different in the EU from the US there’s no real reason to expect those lower prices to happen here.”

Sussex Police said that the following had been charged, bailed or otherwise dealt with.

• Kim Turner, 56, a charity worker of Firle Road, Brighton, was charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA. She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• A 32-year-old woman from Brighton arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.
• A 27-year-old man from Brighton arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.
• A 20-year-old man from Brighton was cautioned for obstructing the highway. He was then released from custody.
• A 15-year-old girl from Brighton was cautioned for failing to comply with a prohibited assembly police direction and wilful obstruction of the highway. She was then released from custody.
• A 52-year-old woman from Brighton arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.
• Katie Brown, 33, unemployed of Holland Place, Liverpool, has been charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 (S14 POA). She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Beaujolais Bulman, 26, unemployed, of Hadlee Terrace, Lancaster, has been charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that he knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA and assaulting a police officer. He was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Peter Coville, 46, of Riversdale Court, Reading, has been charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA. He was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Josef Dobraszczyk, 22, no occupation given, of Erleigh Court Gardens, Earley, Reading, was charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that he knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA. He was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Ruth Jarman, 50, unemployed of Kiln Gardens, Hartley Wintney, Hook, Hampshire, has been charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA and with wilful obstruction of the highway. She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Ruth Malcolm, 19, a student of Windermere Road, Lancaster, has been charged with [being a] public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA and resisting a constable in the execution of his duty. She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Sheila Menon, 41, unemployed, no address given, has been charged with (being a) public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA and with wilful obstruction of the highway. She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• Ruth Potts, 39, of Edward Street, Lower Weston, Bath, has been charged with [being a] public assembly participant failing to comply with condition in that she knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under S14 POA and with wilful obstruction of the highway. She was bailed to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on September 4.
• A man arrested earlier on Monday in connection with an incident on Friday (16 August) when a group of people was asked to leave private land close to the drilling site has been charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Daniel White, 19, of no fixed abode, will appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 4 September.
• A 62-year-old man from Warrington was cautioned for failing to comply with a prohibited assembly police direction and wilful obstruction of the highway. He was then released from custody.
• A 66-year-old man from Hythe, Southampton, arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 29-year-old man from Nottingham arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order and obstructing the highway has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 26-year-old man from Nottingham, arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• An 18-year-old man from Liverpool arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 30-year-old man, no address given, arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 23-year-old man from London arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 34-year-old man from Liverpool arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Thursday 29 August.
• A 33-year-old woman from Reading arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.
• A 44-year-old man from Ascot arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway was bailed to return Tuesday 27 August.
• A 36-year-old man from Carshalton was cautioned for failing to comply with a prohibited assembly police direction. He was then released from custody.
• A 17-year-old girl from South Brent, Devon, arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order and possession of a knife in a public place, has been bailed until Tuesday 27 August.
• A 29-year-old man from Southsea, Hampshire, arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.
• A 30-year-old woman from London arrested on suspicion of a breach of S14 POA directions to leave order has been bailed to return on Tuesday 27 August.