Five people have received ‘substantial undisclosed’ damages from Avon and Somerset police after they were attacked by police officers clearing College Green at a demonstration in Bristol last year.
The police reached an out-of-court financial settlement with the five people, who were van-dwellers protesting about the impact on their way of life of new legislation on March 23, 2021.
One of the five said she had ‘never experienced such violence from the police before’. Despite making the payments, Avon and Somerset police said they still denied the allegations of police brutality made as part of the claims, and each of the financial settlements were made to the five ‘without admission of liability’.
Read next: The violent clearing of College Green - as it happened
The five people who took legal action against Avon and Somerset police were people who lived in vans in and around Bristol. They took part in a sit-down protest on College Green organised by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community against the then-proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which increases police and Government powers to act against people living in vans.
The demonstration took place on College Green on the Tuesday afternoon after a separate protest march on Sunday, March 21, 2021, which descended into violence with clashes between police and protesters outside Bridewell Police Station.
What happened on March 23?
Bristol Live documented the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, March 23, and reported how the protesters spent hours sitting on College Green singing songs, with police asking them to move off, as they were breaching the Covid-19 rules in place at the time which prohibited gathering in public. After dark, police in riot gear moved in with dogs and horses and physically removed the protesters, corralling them first outside the entrance to Bristol Cathedral, and then moving them into surrounding streets late into the night.
College Green is land owned by Bristol Cathedral and Bristol City Council and, at the time, the mayor of Bristol shared a letter signed by what he described as ‘city leaders’ from 22 individuals and organisations, condemning the protests, including the Diocese of Bristol.
A few months after the demonstration, Bristol Cathedral distanced itself from that letter and publicly condemned the treatment of protesters at the hands of the police on its land around the cathedral. A letter from senior leaders at Bristol Cathedral said: "The testimony of those who had been present on March 23 was extremely distressing. They repeatedly stressed that it had been a peaceful protest and that at no time was any violence done to the police or property.
"They described being herded and kettled by the police; being ordered to move on, but with no way of leaving the area. The speed of the attempted dispersal was such that people were confused by what was expected of them, frightened, and unable to collect their belongings safely," the letter added.
"Witnesses spoke of seeing individuals punched, kicked and forced to the ground using riot shields. It was clear that those who had been there were, and remain, deeply traumatised by their experiences and by what they witnessed. Many were in tears and visibly distressed by recounting the events of that evening," the letter added.
Video footage shared by Bristol Live at the time showed one sitting protester grabbed and dragged by his hair, and others hit with riot shields and batons. While dozens of people involved in the riot at Bridewell police station on the previous Sunday have been jailed, none of the five who took legal action against the police for what happened to them in the protest on the Tuesday have been charged with any offence.
A third 'Kill the Bill' protest against the Crime Bill passing through Parliament at the time happened later that week and saw more scenes of violence around the Haymarket in Bristol City Centre.
Police officers were seen slamming the bottom of edge of their riot shields down onto the heads and bodies of sitting protesters, a tactic described as 'legitimate and lawful', by one police chief the following day, who said the tactics were how the officers had been trained, and were 'supposed to look scary'.
Read more: Police force protesters out of College Green on night of conflict
What the protesters say about College Green violence
Lee Guy, a visual artist and musician, said he was hit in the face by a police officer using his riot shield as a weapon. He said he hoped the financial settlement from the police reminded senior officers that people had a right to peaceful protest.
“The protest had been so peaceful all day, which was really important to us,” he said. “We wanted to show the police and the public that we weren’t hooligans and we weren’t a threat. We were there to make a serious point about a way of life that is under threat.
“So it was really shocking to be confronted with rows of police officers in riot gear pushing and hitting us. People were sitting on the ground with their hands in the air saying 'peaceful protest' but they still got hit.
“I was trying to leave the Green when a police officer smashed me in my face with his shield for no reason at all. I hope this settlement will remind all police forces that they need to respect the right to peaceful protest, because they’ll be held accountable if they don’t,” he added.
Another of the protesters to receive damages from the police was a teaching assistant, Flora Sidebottom. She said: “The atmosphere at the protest had been lovely, people were singing songs and doing circus skills. Lots of people were wearing masks and there was hand sanitiser available. I couldn’t believe it when the riot police turned up and started attacking people. At one point I was crushed under two riot shields and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“One officer even pulled my face mask off, which was really shocking as they had forced us so close together. I’ve been to quite a few demonstrations over the years but I’ve never experienced that kind of violence from the police. I was covered in bruises afterwards. It’s totally undermined my confidence in the police as somewhere I could go for protection if I needed it,” she added.
Artist Luke Wentworth had earlier tried to talk to the police to reassure them that the protest would be peaceful. “As one of the older people at the protests I felt quite a lot of responsibility to make sure that things went smoothly and there wasn’t any repeat of the trouble we had seen at the other Kill the Bill demos,” he said.
“That’s why I made a point of searching out officers earlier in the evening and trying to build a dialogue with them. I wanted them to understand that we would work with them to make sure there wasn’t any need for the police to get heavy handed, but when it came down to it they just ignored me and stormed in anyway.
“It was horrible to see, and I felt like I had let the other protestors down, particularly the young ones who were obviously really upset. I just couldn’t believe that we had been entirely peaceful, we were speaking with the police, and they still decided to treat us like a mob,” he added.
What police say
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said that the police denied and disputed the allegations made by the five people who began legal action against them, and said paying damages was done with no admission of liability.
“We can confirm Avon and Somerset Police has settled claims brought by five people in relation to the decision to disperse them from College Green, Bristol, on 23 March 2021, when Covid-19 restrictions were in place,” she said.
“Several allegations were made as part of the various claims. Those allegations were denied by Avon and Somerset Police and each of the settlements were made without admission of liability,” she added.
Gus Silverman, the civil liberties lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing the five protestors said police on the day had failed to lawfully balance the right to protest with the Covid-19 regulations in place, and whether officers acted disproportionately in breaking it up.
“The police have a long established legal duty to facilitate the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,” he said. “Those rights can only be inferred with where it is necessary and proportionate to do so.
“No one is saying that policing during a pandemic is easy but human rights have to be respected at all times, not just when it’s convenient or straightforward. We must be wary of trading away our hard won liberties, even in challenging times. The fact that Avon and Somerset has refused to apologise to my clients notwithstanding the weight of evidence indicating they acted unlawfully is very disappointing and calls into question their commitment to respecting human rights,” he added.
Read more on College Green violence
- Kill the Bill protesters forcibly removed from College Green on another night of conflict
- Bristol protest more like 'rave or party' - police chief defends response
- Moment Bristol protester is 'dragged like rug' by police
- Policing tactics 'supposed to look scary' says Bristol police chief as he defends using riot shields as weapons
- More than 60 people said they were injured by police in the first three 'Kill the Bill' protests
- 'Rioters do not speak for Bristol' - 22 influential figures back police
- Marvin Rees rejects calls for public inquiry into policing of protests
- Bristol Cathedral says protesters left 'traumatised' as they were 'kicked and punched' by police
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