A 76-year-old man from Southampton has become the first person arrested under a newly introduced Hampshire Police power banning face coverings at protests, as officers brace for a further large-scale demonstration in Portsmouth this weekend.
A 76-year-old man from Southampton has been arrested on suspicion of concealing his identity during a protest outside Portsmouth Guildhall, Hampshire Police have confirmed. It is the first arrest under the force’s newly introduced identity-concealment power, which officers say applies equally to anyone found deliberately covering their face within a designated protest area. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Guildhall as part of a wider wave of demonstrations at small boat landing sites along the south coast.
New offence carries risk of prison
Under the new power, anyone who deliberately conceals their identity within a designated area faces up to one month in prison, a fine of up to £1,000, or both. Hampshire Police have said the offence will not apply to people covering their faces for legitimate health, religious or work-related reasons.
The force has designated an area of Portsmouth where the offence will be enforced from 10am on Saturday, 12 September, until 10am the following day, ahead of a further demonstration expected in the city. Officers are also making use of a separate Section 60AA order, which allows them to instruct anyone concealing their identity to remove the item in question; refusing to comply can itself lead to arrest. Between the two powers, Hampshire Police effectively have two distinct routes through which to act against people suspected of hiding their identity at the protests.
Powers introduced after violence at Eastney Marina
Hampshire Police said the new measures followed violence and intimidation witnessed during the previous Portsmouth protest, when around 200 people gathered at Eastney Marina after an RNLI lifeboat brought a group of migrants ashore. According to the force, several police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged during the disorder, and a small number of officers were injured.
That protest followed the interception of a dinghy carrying an estimated 120 people near the Isle of Wight. The RNLI brought those on board to Eastney Marina after other ports along the coast were unable to receive them, lacking the facilities needed to accommodate the group.
A separate investigation into the disorder at Eastney Marina has already led to one arrest. Del Leon Somerville, a 42-year-old man from Portsmouth, was arrested on Friday morning and has since been charged with violent disorder and assaulting a police constable in the execution of their duty. He was remanded to appear before Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, 12 September.
Detectives review hundreds of hours of footage
Hampshire Police said detectives had, at the latest update, assessed around 75% of the available footage from the Eastney Marina disorder. The force has warned that Somerville’s arrest is expected to be the first of a number of arrests, as officers work to identify people suspected of assault, criminal damage and other offences.
Investigators believe some of those involved in the recent protests deliberately adopted tactics intended to frustrate identification. Reports from a separate demonstration in Dover indicated that some masked protesters used walkie-talkies to coordinate their movements and carried solicitors’ telephone numbers with them.
Following the disorder in Dover and Portsmouth, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood met senior police officers and instructed forces to make full use of their existing powers, alongside stronger intelligence gathering. Officers have been encouraged to increase their use of body-worn video, CCTV, automatic number-plate recognition and facial-recognition technology, together with other forms of digital evidence — a shift that could see arrests made days or weeks after a protest rather than only on the day itself.
RNLI advises volunteers over branded clothing
The RNLI has advised its staff and volunteers to think carefully about wearing branded clothing, after what it described as unacceptable abuse directed at its personnel. The charity said its volunteers had been targeted because of their role in rescuing people from small boats attempting Channel crossings.
Protesters mistake cricket team for asylum seekers
In a separate incident in Portsmouth this week, masked protesters gathered outside a hotel in the mistaken belief that asylum seekers had been taken there. The group had in fact assembled outside a hotel where the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team was staying while on tour in England. A local Reform councillor attended the scene and explained the misunderstanding to the crowd, which subsequently dispersed.
