Michael Goold of the Garden Court Protest Rights Team acted for the defendant, instructed by Sarah Robertson of Birnberg Peirce Solicitors.
Michael represented an organiser of an anti-racist public meeting in Aldershot who was charged with assault after the meeting was disrupted by far-right activists. The meeting had been organised in response to increasing anti-migrant campaigning in the area. UKIP leader Nick Tenconi and several local far-right activists attended the meeting in an attempt, the prosecution alleged, to disrupt it and provoke violence. Michael’s client and four of the far-right activists were charged with assault following the incident.
Michael conducted a detailed analysis of video footage which demonstrated that the alleged assault by his client had not occurred and that his client was in fact the victim of an assault. This resulted in the case against Michael’s client being dismissed at the end of the prosecution case. The four co-defendants were ultimately all convicted of assault.
