The two local residents arrested following a protest at the offices of ATOS Healthcare, on Stoney Street, have been rebailed until mid-November.

Former Notts firearms cop Timothy Allatt was sent down for 8 weeks today for assaulting a man he arrested in Sneinton last year. Allatt's 'gratuitous violence' left his victim with a collapsed lung and facial injuries. Allatt has already been kicked out of the force for using 'excessive force' in another arrest.

In the aftermath of the riots that swept the UK earlier this month, local courts and authorities have been swift to crackdown. Notts Police have charged 75 people with offences relating to the disorder, including 18-year old Amed Pelle who was sent to prison for 2 years and 9 months for comments made on Facebook. Nottingham City Council have also jumped at the opportunity to look tough and Leade…

Rioting flared up again last night in Nottingham as five police stations were attacked with homemade incendiary devices (i.e. petrol bombs). Canning Circus, The Meadows, Oxclose Lane, Bulwell and St Ann's police stations were targeted by rioters. A police car outside the station in the Meadows was also torched.

RIOTING erupted in Nottingham last night, with a police station being petrol bombed, shops being looted and houses and vehicles damaged.

Most of the damage happened in St Ann’s, including a firebomb attack on a police station, and in New Basford a container of about 200 tyres was set alight.

Looters also attempted to break into JD Sports in the Victoria Centre.

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that earlier this month five forces – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire – formed the East Midlands Technical Surveillance Unit (Emtsu) after a series of internal consultations that took place behind closed doors in March.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Waterfield of Nottinghamshire police wrote in …

Power station convictions quashed

Posted on 19th July 2011 14:54

The convictions of 20 climate change activists who were found guilty of planning to break into Ratcliffe on Soar power station have today been quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Appeal court judges ruled the convictions were unsafe and said they would give their full reasons for the decision tomorrow morning (Wed 20 July).

Following…

Andy at NCCLOLs has found out that the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) will be enforced using a vehicle equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). This will drive into the car parks of all workplaces in Nottingham City Centre recording the registrations of all the vehicles parked there, 8 times in every 28 days. This data will then be analysed to work out which vehicles are normally par…

If you grew up in Notts and don’t partake in meat, you probably owe a huge debt to Patrick Smith. Why? Because he’s spent three decades as a vegan activist while slinging veggie burgers from a van in town, back in the day when ‘vegetarian option’ meant ‘just chips’. Now operating his veggie business out of the Sumac Centre in Forest Fields, he talks about a meat-free career, the Ra…

The Guardian has today published 3 articles about Mark Kennedy: 

Police knew about plans for Ratcliffe-on-Soar break-in before most activists 

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/07/mark-kennedy-ratcliffe-on-soar 

Police spying: secret tapes that put CPS on the spot 

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/07/mark-kennedy-police-spy-secret-tapes 

Mark Kennedy c…

A dispersal order will be in place in Forest Fields from Saturday 16th April until 5th Oct 2011. There has been concern from some local residents about what the implications of this will be. A public meeting was held at the Sumac on 24th April, information about the dispersal orders on lamposts has been graffitied and a poster campaign against the order has begun.

On the newswire: Forest Field…

USE OF UNDERCOVER POLICE OFFICERS

• Session: 2010-11
• Date tabled: 26.04.2011
• Primary sponsor: Mitchell, Austin
• Sponsors: 
  • Campbell, Ronnie
   
  • Caton, Martin
   
  • Edwards, Jonathan
   
  • Hancock, Mike
   
  • Llwyd, Elfyn

That this House is concerned about the use of undercover police officers to infiltrate protest groups; notes the recent decision by the Director of Public Prosecut…

This is an attempt to collect some relevant information and analysis to help resist dispersal orders. It is focused on the situation in Nottingham as a campaign has sprung up recently to resist the order imposed on Forest Fields.

Lovely quote from Steve Evan's of the Police Federation in the Daily Mail today:

'I know which forces I'd rather be in if I was in trouble. What is gross misconduct, and therefore a sacking offence in Derby might be simple misconduct in Nottingham.'

Thursday 5th May

In the middle of the local election day, I happened across another armed turnout by Nottinghamshire Police.

Power station protesters urged to appeal

Posted on 18th April 2011 15:30

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has today invited lawyers representing 20 people convicted of protests at Ratcliffe on Soar power station, to appeal those convictions.

Keir Starmer QC, acting on advice from an independent barrister who has reviewed the case, believes there may be grounds to appeal.

He said: “Hav…

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has written to the legal representatives of 20 protestors convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass after a protest at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, inviting them to appeal the convictions.

On 28 January 2011, Mr Starmer asked Clare Montgomery QC to review the case of those protestors convicted in December last year. Ms Montgo…

The Guardian has published a video from Saturday's Fortnum and Masons occupation by UK Uncut. Taken by legal observers from Green and Black Cross, the footage shows a police chief inspector telling protesters that they will soon be allowed to leave. Of course, they were all subsequently arrrested.

No doubt most of us can think of instances when Her Majesty's Finest have lied through their teeth a…

An article in today's Nottingham Post confirms that "A documentary is being made about undercover policeman Mark Kennedy."

This corroborates what Kennedy was reported to have told an activist and "erstwhile friend" after an encounter at Euston Station in London. During that exchange he "claimed that no-one would be named in the documentary or in the book" he is also working on. Not that his word …

A spying firm with corporate clients including E.ON, Scottish Power and Scottish Coal has been identified after accidentally emailing the activists it was spying on. Kent-based Vericola Ltd has been targeting groups including the Camp for Climate Action and London Rising Tide with low-level infiltration. Other groups are encouraged to check their lists and share any experiences.

Rebecca T…

The cases of 20 environmental activists convicted of plotting to shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station are to be reviewed:

Great news, nothing won ..... but great news

18th January Nottingham Crown Court [Day 17]



From the first trial the previous 18 of the 20 defendant had already been sentenced on the 10th January.



The remaining 2 had to appear at Court 5, Nottingham Crown Court today.

In the wake of the Mark "Stone" story breaking in the mainstream media yesterday, a lot of journalists are trying their best to dig out all the gorey personal details. They are phoning up lots of activists and trying to find out more information. You may be one of those activists.

You are requested not to give any information to the media. Just say "sorry, I don't know anything about that"…

The Met Police are facing serious questions and the threat of an investigation into the role of one of their undercover officers. PC Mark Kennedy infiltrated activist groups between 2003-2009. On Monday, the second trial relating to planned action at Ratcliffe on Soar power station collapsed after the prosecution offered no evidence. This is believed to be an attempt to conceal the extent of …

Today was to have been the beginning of a trial of a further 6 people arrested during the police Operation Aeroscope

The second Ratcliffe conspiracy trial, due to start today, has collapsed after defence lawyers demanded information on undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.

Guardian investigation reveals details of PC Mark Kennedy's infiltration of dozens of protest groups

A police officer who for seven years lived deep undercover at the heart of the environmental protest movement, travelling to 22 countries gleaning information and playing a frontline role in some of the most high-profile confrontations, has quit the Met, telling his friends that what he did was …

"Google has turned the boys in blue red with rage by refusing to hand over private data except by court order."

This might be something of an overstatement, but it is significant that police in Derbyshire think they have a right to private data held by Google without a court order (which they would presumably get with little difficulty).

It is good to see Google standing up to the police, althou…

Over the past few weeks the UK’s activist movement has been rocked by the revelation that an extremely active person within its ranks, who had been at the heart of many major direct action campaigns, was in fact an undercover policeman.

After being confronted by former friends, Mark ‘Stone’, whose real name is Mark Kennedy, confessed that he had been working undercover since 2000. He has si…

The Sumac Debates are back by popular demand.

Every week a different theme will be discussed in an open debate. The first six themes are outlined below and they will be followed by such things as "Why not the G20?" and "Grassroots and Mass movements"



As the poster states they begin at 7:30, and will sometimes be introduced with a short talk or film, watch this space for more details on that, …