Anti-HS2 activists log complaint of intimidating behaving outside court

HS2 Ltd has been accused by anti-HS2 activists of intimidating behaviour prior to a High Court hearing that took place in Birmingham on Tuesday.

At the start of the week, we reported that HS2 had applied for an unprecedented 140-mile-long injunction, effectively covering the whole route of the high-speed railway currently under construction, to deter protesters.

The application for the injunction was adjourned to a later date, with the judge seemingly not satisfied with various aspects of the claimant’s application.

However, after the hearing on Tuesday morning at Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre, anti-HS2 activists alerted us to some strange activity outside the court.

Five individuals, believed to be Incident Response Team (IRT) security personnel, a group used by HS2 at their work sites, were stood across the road from the court building, dressed all in black, filming defendants as they went into court.

Also, two vehicles, recognised by activists from their alleged presence at various protests, were seen repeatedly driving past the court building throughout the morning.

Bucks Radio has spoken to Anti-HS2 activists who told us that some of the individuals dressed in black are known to them, and one protester said they even talked to the driver of one of the trucks, who left them in no doubt they were there on HS2-related matters.

As a consequence, prominent Bucks anti-HS2 protester, Caroline Thomson-Smith, who was at the hearing on Tuesday, has written to the court, logging an official complaint of intimidation.

[PICTURE: Individuals seen outside court]

[PICTURE: Individuals dressed in black appearing to film outside the court]

We put this accusation to HS2 Ltd, who replied: “There is no such thing as a 'HS2 security van' and HS2 had no security staff in the area, so I can only assume the person you spoke to was confused.”

Bucks Radio has obtained photos of a vehicle from outside the court on Tuesday and compared them to exhibits actually provided by HS2 to the court.

[PICTURE: On the left is a vehicle seen circling the court and on the right is a vehicle filmed at a HS2 work site]

Anti-HS2 activist Mark Keir, from HS2 Rebellion, who was also in Birmingham on Tuesday morning, told us: “HS2's immensely audacious application to injunct 160 miles of English countryside, cities, towns and villages, has hit the doldrums.

“It appears that Justice Cotter sees the panic driven audacity for what it is; an immensely dangerous piece of law-making fraught with huge but utterly foreseeable problems, that HS2's legal team were apparently unable to see.

“If this shows HS2 to be in a state of blind panic, perhaps we can offer further evidence to that end.  As we waited to enter Court, HS2 security heavies in the shape of their black uniformed IRT, formed a posse across the road photographing and attempting to identify us all.

“This is of course the sort of intimidation anyone living near HS2 works faces all day, but outside the Court it is even less acceptable and would indeed be frightening to anyone not used to such harassment.”