A summons to court that was sent to the Stansted Fifteen was sent in error

Stansted Fifteen’s call back to court a mistake

A summons to court that was sent to the Stansted Fifteen was sent in error

by Rebecca Hardy 8th March 2019

The Stansted Fifteen protesters have been told that their summons to court on an aggravated trespass case last month was an ‘error’.

The courts apologised to the activists who, according to their lawyer, experienced ‘great anxiety and distress’ when they received letters from Colchester magistrates court ordering them to appear on 15 April for a hearing relating to a separate charge.

The protestors received suspended sentences or community orders in February after being convicted of terror-related charges for endangering the safety of an aerodrome when they blocked a deportation flight at Stansted Airport in 2017.

A spokesman for HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) said: ‘This case was incorrectly listed and letters sent in error. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and the hearing on 15 April will be cancelled.’

The activists’ lawyer, Raj Chada of Hodge Jones & Allen, said: ‘At least HMCTS have retracted and apologised to our clients. It doesn’t take away from the misery that our clients suffered over the weekend. More importantly, it is a temporary reprieve as the [Crown Prosecution Service are] continuing the case and want it hanging over our clients like the sword of Damocles – this is not in the public interest.’

The Stansted Fifteen, which includes Quaker Lyndsay Burtonshaw, an attender at Brighton Meeting, described the letters as ‘devastating’.

A spokeswoman for the group said: ‘This kind of legal threat and drawn-out prosecution stretching over years is a small window into the horrendous process people seeking leave to remain with their families and communities face at the hands – and the mistaken letters – of the Home Office every single day.’


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