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Sadiq Khan was 'alarmed' when anti-Ulez campaigners turned up outside his house singing songs, court hears By FRANKIE ELLIOTT FOR MAILONLINE and CENTRAL NEWS Published: 11:59, 28 November 2024 | Updated: 12:01, 28 November 2024 e-mail 1 View comments London mayor Sadiq Khan was 'alarmed' by protesters outside his house singing songs about his ULEZ car tax, a court has heard. A crowd of anti-ULEZ protesters clashed with Metropolitan Police officers in furious scenes outside Sadiq Khan's south London home on April 6. Nicholas Arlett, 73, Lloyd Dunsford, 65, Martin Whitehead, 62, and Alison Young, 50, were all arrested outside the politician's family home in Tooting, south west London.
The protest, titled 'Stop the Khanage', took place 100 metres from Khan's address and was designed to raise awareness of Londoner's outrage about Khan's Ultra-Low Emission Zone expansion to the outer remits of the city. The material allegedly responsible for causing likely harassment to Mr Khan includes a poster with the words 'Blood on your hands Khan' and the words 'FCUK Khan' printed on the back of a high-vis jacket. The protest was eventually broken up by police sent to cordon off the area and activists were told to disperse and go to City Hall to carry on their demonstrations there.
District Judge Daniel Sternberg presided over a 'no case to answer' application made by the co-defendants. Defence lawyer Sundeep Pankhania, representing the anti-ULEZ campaigners, said the 'Khanage for Khan' protest was different to recent Just Stop Oil activities. (Left to right) Lloyd Dunsford, Nicholas Arlett, Martin Whitehead, Allison Young and Kevin Stredde appear at court after being arrested outside Sadiq Khan family home in Tooting, south west London Sadiq Khan who has faced backlash from motorists after expanding the ULEZ zone last year The protest, titled 'Stop the Khanage', took place 100 metres from Khan's address and was designed to raise awareness of Londoner's outrage about Khan's Ultra-Low Emission Zone expansion to the outer remits of the city He said: 'This is distinct from that judge, it doesn't have the hallmarks of either trying to cause obstruction or harassment, alarm or distress to anyone.
Read More Anti-ULEZ protesters clash with Met Police officers as they're prevented from protesting hated low-emission scheme outside Sadiq Khan's London home 'With all due respect, my learned friend highlights the fact it was outside the politician's home. I ask myself: "So what?" 'I asked the inspector the same question and they fall into the trap - it is not an offence to protest outside a politician's home address and never has been.' He told the judge that there is 'no case for these defendants to argue.
' Prosecutor Thomas Murphy countered that the protest included 'references to Khan himself, not just the ULEZ scheme that's in place in London. 'We heard from one officer, they made a comment that they saw signs and they believed one appears to have blood on. 'There appears to be a banner that has blood on, under which you appear to see Mr Khan's name.
' He continued: 'There is no dispute the defendants were present in the vicinity, the proximity of Sadiq Khan's home address. People during an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square, London, on January 27, 2024 'The defendants were there for the purpose of representing to Mr Khan that he should not do something he's entitled to do, namely in this case the ULEZ scheme. 'It is not controversial that Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London is entitled to impose the ULEZ scheme or that he is under no obligations to stop it.
'The defendants knew or ought to have known their presence was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to Sadiq Khan.' Mr Murphy told the court that police estimated only a '100 metre gap between the protest and Sadiq Khan's residence.' Giving his ruling, District Judge Daniel Sternberg said he was 'satisfied on the evidence before me that at this stage there is a case for each of the defendants to answer.
' After the ruling, the four defendants were called to give evidence. Young told Mr Pankhania that she had joined a Facebook group called 'No to ULEZ' after being forced to sell her ULEZ non-compliant car outside of London. She said the intention behind the protest was to 'raise awareness, gather some support, gather some more people, people that felt the same way, and make our voices heard.
' People during an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square, London, on January 27, 2024 Asked what the 'atmosphere' was like at the demonstration, she told the court: 'It's fun, it's enjoyable, it's jolly, carnival vibes - dinosaurs, children, dogs, singing, crowds of ladies that sing songs.' Mr Pankhania said that these singers were known as 'Ulezettes', and include 'a wife of one of the defendants, plus other ladies - they sing well-known songs with different lyrics, essentially protesting against ULEZ.' Young told her defence advocate that she often wears a 'black dinosaur suit' at protests in order to 'put a fun edge on things.
' She was later asked by Mr Murphy if a 'FCUK Khan' sign was designed to be read as 'F- Khan'. Young replied: 'I disagree, not in these modern days.' Mr Pankhania asked Young: 'Are you old enough to know about a brand of clothing called French Connection?' 'Yes, yes - absolutely', she replied.
'They use the words 'FCUK' on their clothing,' Mr Pankhania explained, showing several pictures of the apparel brand to the district judge via his laptop. Protestor Terry Burt, 69, holding a placard with Sadiq Khan's face on it, at an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square Arlett, who has a previous conviction for ABH in 1968, was described by Mr Pankhania as the man responsible for arranging the protest, printing the placards and titling it 'Khanage at Khan's.' Explaining the idea behind the demonstration, Arlett said: 'Sadiq Khan always said there was no backlash, and that everyone in London was very happy with the expansion.
'This was just to make him aware that we weren't happy, it was purely to make a political point.' Arlett said he had attended 'sixty, seventy, even eighty demonstrations across London' and even completed an anti-ULEZ 'two day fast' in Purley. Mr Murphy asked him: 'You accept you were responsible for having things printed such as 'Stop the Khanage', 'Get Khan Out' and 'Blood on Your Hands Khan' - I put it to you that all those messages in close proximity to Mr Khan's residential address is likely to cause alarm and distress.
' 'The idea is you do a demonstration where it may affect the person you're protesting against', Arlett said. Asked if he was responsible for a 'FCUK Khan' sign, he answered: 'I don't know if that's one of mine or not, to be honest I can't recall.' Dunsford admitted in his evidence to having a 'FCUK Khan' sticker on his cap throughout the protest.
'Because of the French Connection (clothing brand), nothing on any of our merchandise had a swear word on it', he told the court. A vandalised ULEZ camera in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon had the camera lens sprayed over with white paint A ULEZ camera in Harefield covered over by pictures of London Mayor Sadiq Khan with the words, thief, liar, fraud and cruel written underneath the pictures He added: 'That day we were promoting Susan Hall because she was going to do away with the ULEZ if she won the election. 'The sticker just happened to be on my hat.
'I never intended to cause anyone stress, or alarm, or any sort of abuse - I'm not that sort of a person.' Whitehead, who works as a plasterer, told Mr Pankhania that he hadn't seen his daughter since the introduction of the ULEZ scheme. 'She lives outside the ULEZ zone, she hasn't been to see me since the ULEZ came in because she can't afford to - she's a single mum who can't afford to come and see me.
'My step-daughter has a non-compliant vehicle and lives in Colchester, they (also) haven't been to see us since the ULEZ came in', he said. He referred to the anti-ULEZ demonstrations as being 'like a carnival' and said the protests garnered 'lots of support from passing traffic.' Whitehead proceeded to tell Mr Murphy that he 'didn't know' exactly where Sadiq Khan lived.
Judge Sternberg will give his verdict on December 6. He released each defendant on bail until then with conditions not to enter certain roads near the Mayor of London's home in Tooting. Arlett, of West Wickham, Whitehead, of Beckenham, Young, of Windsor, Berks and Dunsford of Bexley, all deny one charge of harassing a person in his home.
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