Legal experts have criticised the prosecution of a protester who was arrested when a fellow activist placed a sticker on a window of a block of luxury flats.
The incident has raised concerns that the police are targeting known protesters for prosecution, even if they are non-violent, using joint enterprise laws.
Lisa McKenzie, a research fellow at the London School of Economics, was accused of assisting an unknown person to put the sticker on a window to protest against “poor doors” – separate entrances for social housing tenants in upmarket blocks that also cater for private tenants.
After she was found not guilty at Stratford magistrates court - the judge ruled there was no evidence against her - McKenzie said she had been picked out by police.
“The police were asked how they knew it was me and how they knew my name, and they said that I had been profiled in the meetings earlier, and the judge said he was very, very uncomfortable with how I had been profiled,” she told the Guardian.
Joint enterprise means a person may be found guilty for another person’s crime if it is judged that they shared a common purpose. It is more commonly used in connection to gang violence.
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