anti-war protest

In 2003, just after the beginning of the war in Iraq, three coaches of anti-war protesters were travelling to a US airbase in Gloucestershire, from where a number of bombing missions were being launched. Six miles from the airbase, the coaches were stopped by police, who were concerned that some of the protestors would cause serious violence. The coaches and passengers were searched by the police and a number of items confiscated, including scarves, white paper overalls, scissors, home-made shields and a yacht distress flare. The passengers in the coaches were then escorted back to London.

The organisers of the protest believed that this action by the police had broken their human rights and applied for a judicial review. The court decided that the police had been entitled to stop the coach getting to the airbase (to prevent a breach of the peace) but that detaining the passengers and forcing the coach back to London went beyond the powers of the police and was unlawful.