Two entrances to a printing works were picketed by striking printers. A police officer decided that there should be no more than two pickets at each entrance. The defendant wished to join the two pickets at the rear entrance. The officer said two pickets were enough. The defendant pushed gently past and the officer gently arrested him, and charged him with obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty. There was no disorder, and no violence was threatened or offered by any of the pickets or other persons present.
Held: The defendant’s appeal failed since the officer had reasonable grounds for anticipating that a breach of the peace was a real not a remote possibility. The police must anticipate ‘a real, not a remote, possibility’ of a breach of the peace before they are justified in taking preventive action’.
Judges:
Parker LCJ
Citations:
[1960] 3 All ER 660, [1961] 1 WLR 162
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Moss v McLachlan QBD 1985
Four striking miners were travelling in a convoy of motor vehicles and were stopped by a police cordon at a junction within several miles of four collieries. The inspector in charge believed with reason that a breach of the peace would be committed . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others CA 8-Dec-2004
The claimant had been in a bus taking her and others to an intended demonstration. The police feared breaches of the peace, and stopped the bus, and ordered the driver to return to London, and escorted it to ensure it did not stop.
Held: The . .
Cited – Albert v Lavin QBD 1980
The defendant (A) and the prosecutor (L), an off duty constable not in uniform, awaited a bus. A pushed past the queue, whose members objected. L stood in his way. A pushed past onto the step of the bus, turned, grabbed L’s lapel and made to hit . .
Aberrant – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .
Approved – Moss v McLachlan QBD 1985
There had been violent conflict between members of different unons in the context of the miners’ strike. The police had found it difficult to maintain the peace. The appellants were four of about sixty striking miners intent on a mass demonstration . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Police, Crime
Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.221596