We are pretty shocked to report that the third and last defendant was found GUILTY under s144 on May 24. He was sentenced to 40 hours unpaid labour and a £250 fine. Previous updates can be found here. This decision was immediately appealed and we will let you know the next court date asap.
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Brighton: Result of May Trial
Brighton: Statement At Adjournment of the Trial
Today the squatting trial in Brighton was adjourned until the 24th May as it ran out of time due to extreme faffing.
Two squatters had already had the case against them thrown out of court when the magistrates realised the prosecution hadn’t actually presented any evidence that they lived in the building. And the case against the third squatter looks pretty flimsy.
One of the freed defendants, said:
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Brighton: Support for three squatters on trial
On September 3 2012, some people were arrested for being in a derelict building under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.
The three defendants are booked in for a two and a half day trial at Brighton Magistrates Court which starts at 10am Monday April 22 2013.
At this stage we think the trial will go ahead on this date. Come on down!! It’s gonna be a riot! a lot of fun. Solidarity actions would be welcome.
The charges originally were squatting (under s144), obstruction (of the police in their lawful duty) and abstraction (ie stealing electricity). The abstraction charge has already been dropped.
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Brighton (UK): (Last) Statement from Occupation
Today we saw how far the University management are willing to go to suppress protest on campus. At 11am this morning bailiffs, accompanied by a staggering number of police, arrived on campus to evict students who have been occupying the Bramber House Conference Centre since February 7th. After the occupiers peacefully left the building chanting and singing, four students were arrested and many others were abused at the hands of the police.
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Brighton (UK): Solidarity action with the recent wave of attacks on squats in Greece
Communique originally sent to Act For Freedom Now:
In the early hours of January 16th 2013 we found a suitable canvas to express our rage and solidarity with the recent wave of attacks on anarchist/autonomous spaces in Greece.
On the pristine white wall of the Halifax bank on London Road (central Brighton) we painted “Solidarity with squats in greece” in large green letters, accompanied by A.C.A.B, a large squatter symbol and circled A in black paint. This is only a small expression of our desire to strike back in what are difficult and oppressive times for all of us. Unfortunately we do not have any pictures of our art. [Read More]
Brighton: “Mad Mike” gets his comeuppance!
Mike Weatherley, Tory MP for Hove, was due to do a lecture today at Sussex University, in Brighton. He was invited by the Sussex Uni Tory Society to talk about the squatban that he championed.
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Brighton: First arrests under squatban
The first known arrests over the new squatting law happened today.
Three squatters occupying a commercial property in Brighton, who were using the upstairs residential area as an un-lived in social centre, were arrested after a seven hour standoff. The two rooftop occupiers vanished into thin air!
There are also unconfirmed reports of arrests in Somerset.
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Brighton: Mass Squatting Action, October 13th
We will resist the squatting ban by any means necessary.
The Squatter’s Network of Brighton is calling for a Mass Squatting Action on October 13th to resist the new anti-squatting laws. This act is draconian, unworkable, an attack on our way of living and some of the most vulnerable in our society. We will not take it lying down.
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UK: Demonstrations in support of squatting
As the move towards the criminalisation of squatting continues in the UK with the House of Lords waving through the legislation, there have been demonstrations in support of squatting and autonomous spaces.
See below for reports from Brighton (today) and Bristol (yesterday).
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Squatters march through Brighton streets
Three squats are due in court as the owners of the buildings try and regain possession.
The protest started at 10.30 outside Brighton County Court in solidarity with the squatters in court. Once the last squatters have had their court case heard the protesters will march through the centre of Brighton to raise awareness of the benefits of squatting and the attack on squatting by right wing Hove MP, Mike Weatherly.
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Brighton: Squatters Resist Eviction Attempt
This morning at 8am, less than 48 hours after a possession order was granted by Brighton Magistrates Court, the Brighton and Hove council attempted to evict the occupiers of Ainsworth House on Wellington Road, Brighton.
The building has been occupied for less than a month by at least 25 people. Despite the fact Christmas is only 4 days away, the council is pushing ahead with plans to make the occupiers (including vulnerable people with disabilities) homeless. For more info see the previous indymedia article here.
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Brighton: Facing Up To Mike Weatherley’s Fearsome Gauntlet
In his usual dim-witted way, ‘Mad Mike’ Weatherley has been making fatuous comments regarding (unnamed) homelessness charities endorsing his campaign to criminalise squatters, all squatters being lifestylists or how Brighton police have never convicted squatters in eighteen years. All these remarks are ill-informed, for example the last – there haven’t been any convictions because it’s not a criminal offence (although the police do often make sure to frame squatters for other alleged crimes).
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