Protester receives Olympics asbo
The asbo bans Simon Moore from approaching any Olympic venue, including the main park. Photograph: ODA
An activist who took part in a protest against the construction of an Olympic facility says he has been handed a court order banning him from approaching any Olympic venue, activity or official.
The interim antisocial behaviour order (asbo) given to Simon Moore, 29, is believed to be the first pre-emptive Olympic asbo requested by Scotland Yard to prevent protests at the Games. It also bars Moore from going near events to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee, the trooping of the colour and the state opening of parliament.
Perhaps the most restrictive clause decrees that “trespassing on, or without the permission of the owner to interfere with, any building or land” would also contravene the asbo. Since breaching the order can result in jail, this section effectively criminalises all trespass, generally a civil matter.
Moore was among a group of residents and people associated with the Occupy movement who attempted to stop the construction of a basketball practice facility on Leyton Marsh, a green space near the Olympic park in east London. Protesters and their tents were removed from the site last week after the landowners won a court order.
Moore, who lives in west London but formerly spent time at the Occupy protest camp near St Paul’s Cathedral in central London, said he was charged with a public order offence after refusing a police officer’s order to leave the site. He admitted the offence in court and was briefly jailed.
On leaving Thamesmead prison in south-east London on Saturday, Moore said he was met by an officer from Scotland Yard’s public order division, CO11, who handed him an envelope containing the asbo, approved by Westminster magistrates court.
“Just as I got out of custody a detective sergeant appeared out of nowhere and said, ‘This is for you,’ ” Moore said. “It was unexpected. I’m already subject to two injunctions relating to Leyton Marsh, so I thought that would be pretty solid. I then looked at the prohibitions and yes, they’re pretty extensive.
“I’ve got no intention of disrupting the Olympic ceremonies, the sporting events, the torch, let alone the diamond jubilee, the trooping of the colour, the state opening of parliament, any of them. It’s like a pre-crime thing – they’re suggesting that that is my intention. I imagine I won’t be the last person to receive one of these.”
The asbo, which will be either confirmed or overturned by magistrates at the start of May, prohibits Moore from going within 100 yards of any Olympic-related venue, “route” or the home of participants, officials or spectators, or approaching any road where the Olympic torch will pass that day.
More wide-ranging clauses bar “any activity that disrupts the intended or anticipated official activities of the Olympic Games or diamond jubilee celebrations”, and obstructing the movement or passage of Olympic athletes, officials or spectators.
Moore said he believed the final clause, making any trespass a breach of the order, was intended to stop him taking part in any Occupy-style protest involving the pitching of tents.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said it was not known whether any similar orders had been applied for by the force.
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