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Reasonable for protesters to call Iain Duncan Smith 'Tory scum', court rules
High court rejects attempt to overturn acquittal of two protesters who made remarks outside 2021 Tory conference
...
Lord Justice Popplewell and Justice Fordham said no fault in law was made by a senior district judge last November in finding Ruth Wood, 52, and Radical Haslam, 30, not guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent.
In response to a request for a judicial review from the director of public prosecutions, the high court found that Judge Goldspring, who is also described as a chief magistrate, had made the important finding that “the use of Tory scum was to highlight the policies” of Duncan Smith, and that this was relevant to the “reasonableness of the conduct” in relation to the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.
...
The high court ruled that the defence needed to set out the facts for a “reasonable conduct defence” in relation to the freedom of expression and assembly rights in the European convention on human rights, but that it had been up to the prosecution to demonstrate the proportionality of an interference with those rights, which it had not done.
Goldspring had said: “My decision set no precedent as to what may constitute unlawful behaviour in other circumstances – but that in this case, on these facts, the use of those words did not amount to an offence, as in the circumstances it was reasonable and protected by the convention.” The high court agreed.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/21/protesters-iain-duncan-smith-tory-scum-reasonable-court-rules
...
Lord Justice Popplewell and Justice Fordham said no fault in law was made by a senior district judge last November in finding Ruth Wood, 52, and Radical Haslam, 30, not guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent.
In response to a request for a judicial review from the director of public prosecutions, the high court found that Judge Goldspring, who is also described as a chief magistrate, had made the important finding that “the use of Tory scum was to highlight the policies” of Duncan Smith, and that this was relevant to the “reasonableness of the conduct” in relation to the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.
...
The high court ruled that the defence needed to set out the facts for a “reasonable conduct defence” in relation to the freedom of expression and assembly rights in the European convention on human rights, but that it had been up to the prosecution to demonstrate the proportionality of an interference with those rights, which it had not done.
Goldspring had said: “My decision set no precedent as to what may constitute unlawful behaviour in other circumstances – but that in this case, on these facts, the use of those words did not amount to an offence, as in the circumstances it was reasonable and protected by the convention.” The high court agreed.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/21/protesters-iain-duncan-smith-tory-scum-reasonable-court-rules