So people democratically protesting against Heathrows third runway get arrested under the Terrorism Act. A bloke fakes his way into 10 Downing St (albeit with a legitimate ID card - oh, the irony!) and gets arrested as a political protestor!

If I get caught doing 75mph on the motorway, what do I get charged with? Regicide?

"originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament."

Does anyone else find it scary that it is illegal in a country that is suppose to be democratic with free speech to have such a law in place. Does that law not circumvent the purpose of a democratic society.

I also agree with the previous statement about if you are driving on a suspended license increasing the suspension when caught again is not a deterent. Take the car and auction it off. If it belongs to someone else they have a choice, file charges of theft or lose the car.

"They were originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament."

I had realized things were getting bad in the UK, but seriously? You can't protest somewhere that the MPs might hear/see you? You must be terrorists! All of you!

..as much crap gets thrown about the US, at least you can still protest in front of the white house and the congress building. Well.. for now. And here in Canada, our Prime Ministers defend their own home (Or rather, their wives do.. with lamps)

two kinds of watchers to handle physical security, [1] human and [2] machine.

[1] security personnel are usually badly paid and badly treated; therefore, they are usually apathetic or passive-aggressive, and unwilling to exercise any initiative in their job. it is usually pretty easy to get past a human checkpoint. to address this, they need decent pay, training, effective leadership, and a stake in whatever they are guarding (so, they're more likely to win a lottery than get any or all of those).

[2] machines are not too good at recognition, especially biometric recognition. additionally, a machine watcher is predictable and rule-based, and incapable of initiative; therefore, ways can be found around most automated checkpoints. the watcher mechanism has to change periodically, to void possible developing workarounds; this is expensive and painful.

neither method is perfect, but a combination of the two would mostly cover the failings of either. this requires careful thought, and effective planning and implementation, with continuing maintenance and review; all of which rarely ever happens anywhere these days.

therefore, we are doomed: stoned hippy terrorists will demonstrate inside the PM's residence, with placards made from hemp, and sing "Kum ba yah".

Nice to see there are still misguided fools who think this is a democracy.

If it was a democracy we would have elected our leader and our head of state.

PM - Elected by his party

Head of State - Not elected at all

Iran is more democratic than us.

Paris Hilton because the same amount of people voted for her to be PM as voted for Gordon Brown.

People caught driving without licence, tax, insurance and/or MoT have *normally* stolen the car. See the Magistrate's Blog for details and intelligent discussion.

I'd agree with crushing any car driven without an MoT, and flogging off the uninsured car unless it was stolen from someone not known to the defendant, but theft is the main issue.

Aaargh, a serious comment! The nerd icon.

"Why do we keep on giving these people another chance?"

Oh I know, every 4 years we give someone a chance in 10 (or 11) Downing Street and they always mess it up.

"originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament."

"Does anyone else find it scary that it is illegal in a country that is suppose to be democratic with free speech to have such a law in place. Does that law not circumvent the purpose of a democratic society."

It really isn't much of a restriction imposed by SOCPA. You merely have to apply for permission a week in advance. Try and find a copy of Mark Thomas' My Life in Serious Organised Crime.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/markthomas.shtml

http://www.markthomasinfo.com/audio/default.asp

Apparently the ghost of Sir Winston Churchill applied to hold a demonstration (about free speech) and was given permission. Having received permission for one demonstration Mark Thomas was given a police escort through the middle of an unlawful demonstration by anarchists. He also holds the record for the most lawful demonstrations within 24 hours.

Mass lone demonstrations are held on the third Wednesday of each month.

Attempted burglary?

Or entering unauthorised (well sortof and sortof was authorised) buildings with intent..

how did the Sec. Guard let him in...what sort of security is there nowadays if a lithuanian ID pass lets him through!!!! =O

You're getting the picture:- dissent aimed at NuLab is "Serious & Organised Crime". (Burglary is trivial, and doesn't merit a penalty).

We don't get tax allowances, 'cos we know that means we keep more of our own money: instead, we pay high taxes but can claim "benefits" which means we are receiving munificence by the benevolence of the Supreme Leader. This way of course, most will see Broon as being oh-so-generous, and will be afraid to vote against him as they are scared of losing these "benefits".

Dependancy culture deliberately encouraged to perpetuate NuLab's being in office?

Surely the Great One would never be that cynical - would he?

... try being a Brit at home mate - it puts "embarassing" into the same league as lego.

@sean surely you jest about this so called leniency , but what you appear to fail to appreciate is that unlike you , Judges have a very extensive daily reading list of things like Home Office Sentence Guidelines and revisions , which seems to change faster then most babies diapers and the passing wind out of Westminster's political rear end , a dry compendium of medical treatments available for all HM prisoners at various prisons , along with how many empty cells are available on a given day which is smaller then one percent for some strange reason called over crowding , along with numerous other weighty common and Westminster New Law , peer review common case law documents that pile up in their in tray in between court cases !

I wonder , did you not also take into consideration the time held whilst in custody of the police and bound over until trial date in remand without bail from the time the charges were laid , the usual Public Prosecutors as to what is doable in court as to the usual police over inflated charge wish list without truthful supporting evidence !

Life , is never as simple as we wish it to be , because being human always makes it complicated as creating mountains from mole hills !

Well, that was a bit bloody late, then, wasn't it?

What a pathetic, arrogant, self-important, ego-bloated waste of time and money prosecuting this guy. What would have been wrong with kicking him out into the street?

The UK needs to have the vast bubble of its ego pricked. It can't run an airport, it can't keep data safe... ... ...

I predict an influx of Lithuanian tourists to UK. Imagine the advertising slogans: Meet PM of UK for free, just do not forget your ID card :) Since I am Lithuanian and I do have my ID card, I am tempted also, maybe it works as a free pass to museums also :)

> I'd agree with crushing any car driven without an MoT

It'd make little difference. It's not likely to be worth much. Indeed, there are people willing to effectively have a disposable car to get free parking in London [and the fines + charges and so on, quickly surpass the value of far more expensive cars than the MOT failures you're hoping to crush]

These days I see adverts for "free scrap car removal" - which suggests you'd actually be offering a service. You might find my old car has a fridge in it too, could you crush that as well because the last one was a pain to get rid of? :)

At the end of the day, you can't stop rock'n'roll, no matter what spiteful measures you dream up to lose those feelings of low self esteem.

Crushing a car only matters in your materialistic, faithful-consumer mind.

Look at NI, they kneecap people, tar and feather them, beat them up and so on. The kind of wet dream a few here are having, but it doesn't work, it doesn't stop crime. If anything the opposite is true.

Of course, not doing anything doesn't work either. The middle ground is where it's at.

Think of it like tax, if you tax 100%, you'd get nothing in tax as people wouldn't bother working, whereas if you tax at 0% you get nothing by definition. The balance is finding the point at which you get the most money. But you see that this doesn't always equate to raising taxes.

Similarly, being completely oppressive just makes nothing against the law, what you'd basically end up with is riots or at worst civil war and your head on a stick. It's no different to anarchy where you'd have no laws. The balance is finding the point where you have minimum crime.

this guy had a drug problem and the guard took his Lithuanian ID for an access pass - it seems if you just look wasted enough, whether drunk or high these guards don´t even bother to check more thoroughly. Probably most visitors appear somewhat tipsy when they visit the heart of fortress Britannica. After some lunch booze get back to work to make crucial decisions how to make the world a better place.

A Lithuanian? Big deal. Didn't a Scott get in there recently?

"as much crap gets thrown about the US, at least you can still protest in front of the white house and the congress building."

Pull the other one...or better still ask Cindy Sheehan.

Dead bird for democracy.

"They were originally arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which restricts political protest within a kilometre of Parliament."

I have no problem with such a restriction if it stops soap dodging scum like Brian Haw from despoiling parliament square. However, am I the only one to question why the government is legislating in Kilometres and not Miles? Since when did the measure of distance get forcibly metricated?