Tuesday, September 21, 2004

16 people arrested on Monday.


Two Fathers 4 Justice campaigners dressed as Batman and Robin were among 16 people arrested on Monday.

The pair had mounted a rooftop protest outside Bristol County Court where Buckingham Palace protester Jason Hatch was attending a hearing.

The men, a 34-year-old from Bristol, and a 52-year-old from west Wales, came down of their own accord.

However, two more protesters, including one in a Spiderman mask, remained on the roof for most of the afternoon.

Mr Hatch, from Cheltenham, staged a five-hour protest dressed as Batman on the balcony of Buckingham Palace last week.


One protester was dressed as Spiderman

The other people arrested include 60-year-old Carmen Taylor from Bristol, and the campaign group's founder Matt O'Connor.

Mrs Taylor said she was supporting her son, Nigel Clay, who said he was proud as his mother was placed into a police van after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

"My mother is an active grandma and sees how unfairly fathers are treated by the courts," he said.

Meanwhile, a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner in a Spiderman mask and another in a decontamination suit protested from the roof of the County Court.

The man in the decontamination suit was said to be there to "clean up" family law.

They remained there for the afternoon, before coming down by late evening, when they were arrested. 21 sept 2004

At least eight campaigners took part in a protest on the steps

Two Fathers 4 Justice campaigners dressed as Batman and Robin were arrested on Monday.

The pair had mounted a rooftop protest outside Bristol County Court where Buckingham Palace protester Jason Hatch was attending a hearing.

Avon and Somerset Police said the two men were arrested at 1030 BST on suspicion of aggravated trespass at Bristol County Court.

Nine other protesters were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

Mr Hatch, from Cheltenham, staged a five-hour protest dressed as Batman on the balcony of Buckingham Palace last week.

County Court

The other people arrested include 60-year-old Carmen Taylor from Bristol, and the campaign group's founder Matt O'Connor.

Mrs Taylor said she was supporting her son, Nigel Clay, who said he was
proud as his mother was placed into a police van after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

"My mother is an active grandma and sees how unfairly fathers are treated by the courts," he said.

Mr Clay, 40, from Bristol, said he had been to court eight times and been denied access to his eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son and had not seen them for 16 months.

Meanwhile, a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner dressed as Spiderman and another in a decontamination suit protested from the roof of the County Court.

The man in the decontamination suit was said to be there to "clean up"family law.

Fathers' rights activists held after Batman court protest


SIXTEEN fathers’ rights activists were in police custody last night after another day of protests at a court building.

The protests took place outside Bristol’s crown and county courts where the man responsible for the "Batman" security breach at Buckingham Palace attended a hearing for a bitter custody battle.

Jason Hatch, who staged a five-hour protest at the palace last week, pledged to return to his campaign of scaling buildings.

Dressed in a suit over a Batman top, the 32-year-old from Cheltenham warned that he was already hatching another "conniving plan" and said his custody battle with his ex-wife had not been resolved at the hearing an1d he still had no contact with his children.

Among those detained outside the courts for offences including aggravated

trespass were 60-year-old grandmother Carmen Taylor, Fathers 4 Justice founder Matt O’Connor, and four supporters who staged a rooftop protest at the court which only ended when they came down in the evening.

Yesterday morning, a skirmish erupted between police and about 20 Fathers 4 Justice campaigners when one protester was refused entry to Bristol County Court.