Police seize Guy’s kit

BRANCH member Guy Smallman was arrested on 25 June while covering a peaceful, theatrical protest by a group called “Youth Demand” in the grounds of the country home of Rishi Sunak, who was at the time a prime minister.

A still from Youth Demand’s video of their action

Image courtesy Youth Demand

Despite showing his press card Guy had all his work equipment confiscated. The police have refused to return his belongings and look set to retain them until at least mid-September, effectively preventing him from working until then.

Guy told Socialist Worker: “The three activists understood the possibility of getting lifted for their peaceful performance art. Their stunt lasted less than two minutes and was staged a considerable distance from the house itself.

“A uniformed cop arrived very quickly and I identified myself with my press card while on a public footpath. He then spent the best part of an hour on his radio with his superiors passing on my details and those of the others. He then announced that we were all being arrested for aggravated trespass.

“The police held me for 12 hours. They prevented me from calling anyone to look after my dog. During the interview, they said I could face five years in prison if I didn’t hand over the pass code to my phone – which I refused.

“They then announced that all my equipment was being kept as evidence – all they would actually need is the memory cards. They said this decision will next be reviewed in mid-September, effectively preventing me from working until then. The items they are holding have a collective value of over £14,000, much of it recently purchased.”

Youth Demand described itself as “a campaign calling for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the incoming UK government to revoke all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021”. Its “performance art” involved a member defecating in Rishi’s lake.

Guy Smallman

Friends have arranged an online collection to help Guy get equiment to get back in business: see www.bit.ly/LFB-guy

Get Guy back to work and help Gaza's journalists www.gofundme.com

Guy gets his kit back five and a half months after his arrest