|
|
|
Trespass to land – Aggravated trespass – Defence – Damage to crops – Defendant charged on two occasions with aggravated trespass – Defendant submitting prosecution unable to make out case of aggravated trespass since no one was engaging in a lawful activity – Whether engaging in a lawful activity requiring physical presence of a person engaged in such activity – Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, s 68(1).
This important case establishes that you cannot be convicted for aggravated trespass if no-one is physically enagaged in lawful activity on the land at the time of the disruption.
The case in question involved the damaging of genetically modified crops, where the farmer was not present at the time. The judge ruled that aggravated trespass was designed to deal with situations where people were intimidated or prevented from carrying out activity as they wished. It therefore followed that it could not be applied to situations where there was no-one actually present.
Other examples of where Tilly might be useful are as follows;
As the law currently stands, you could not be convicted of aggaravated trespass in any of the above cases.
This article is for information purposes only; its aim is to let people to know their full rights under UK law. Nothing on these pages is absolute as the law is always changing; if in doubt contact a trusted solicitor for further advice. We do not encourage you to break the law.
Please feel free to copy and distribute these articles to fellow activists, but do not alter the text in any way. These articles are anti-copyright for non-commercial purposes. Please visit www.freebeagles.org for the latest version of our articles and to learn about the freeBEAGLES Ethical Open Document License under which this document is distributed.
If you see any errors, or we have missed any changes to the legal situation please contact us as soon as possible, at info@freebeagles.org, as wrong information can prove costly to people's freedom.
© Copyright freeB.E.A.G.L.E.S.; last updated: January 2004