10 May (Part 1) - Court Report
Bromley Magistrates’ Court is rather better organised than Bexley’s, there is
a large comfortable waiting area and the courtroom includes a spacious public
gallery with raked padded seats behind a ‘glass’ screen. However when it comes
to the conduct of justice it is no different; a totally depressing place. Not
because of the charade being played out in the name of justice but the fumbling amateurish
nature of it all. Too often the Judge’s questions were answered with “I don’t know ma‘m” or
a story which was simply not true. Prosecutor Denise Johnson was utterly pathetic. She did
not know the case and her oratory would disgrace a junior school debating society.
The Defence barrister,
Rupert Hallowes,
could have been more familiar with the
case too but he was a man who could think quickly and generally, but not always,
analyse the situation accurately and put forward a powerful argument in support
of Olly. I formed the impression that if he had met the lamentable Denise
Johnson at the trial its result might have been very different.
The
hearing got under way at 14:31 in an entirely, Rupert excepted, female staffed
court. Judge Julia Newton, who is a woman who looks as though she is perpetually
chewing on a wasp, had forgotten the facts of the case and
asked Ms. Johnson to
remind her. After much paper rustling Johnson read out the case that had been
dismissed on 21st December and was so confused that she said the victim was DI
Keith Marshall (†). When she was corrected by the Defence we were told that Olly had
named councillor Melvin Seymour (which he most certainly had not) and councillor Sandra Bauer’s invention
referring to dog faeces was further embellished to become “dog faeces and
anything else through his letter box”. Apart from the
conjunction and the pronoun every single word of that submission is untruthful. Is
it any wonder that Judge Newton always gave the impression that she was wholly
against Olly?
The Defence barrister Hallowes wasn’t blameless. He inexplicably and wrongly reminded the Judge
that Olly had blogged on Bexley-is-Bonkers, “a
grossly offensive and menacing” anti-Bexley council blog “run by
Malcolm Knight” but redeemed himself slightly by implying that he is the blogger
who “several councillors who did not want to be named” were most upset by.
Probably he got that bit right.
Hallowes then put forward a host of mitigating factors before sentencing which
was comprehensive and compelling. The Judge was reminded that if it was not for
the intervention of councillor Sandra Bauer, Seymour could not possibly have
been offended. There was no incitement to visit his property. Olly had offered
to apologise to Seymour for his misjudged Tweet but the police told him not to.
Hallowes also demolished the Defence proposal that a curfew might be imposed on
Olly as part of his punishment, an entirely inappropriate sanction he
successfully argued. He also argued that the restraining order referring to the whole
of Bexley council and its employees was far too draconian. Olly was not guilty
of anything beyond upsetting Seymour and Hallowes put a copy of his own proposal before
the Judge who accepted it without further comment.
Additional
to the order preventing contact with councillor Seymour for five years, Olly
was ordered to perform 80 hours of Community Service over the next twelve
months and pay the prosecution costs of £620.
The Defence then counter-claimed for £2,046.26 for
the false harassment charges and councillor
Philip Read’s false allegation of broken bail
conditions. The Judge allowed costs up to and including the 21st December 2011 to be paid from
the public purse. The precise amount wasn’t made clear but there were indications that it might be in the
region of £1,400.
Olly is to appeal against the verdict.
The hearing ended just after 15:30. An unidentified female taking copious notes
and sitting alone in the public gallery is assumed to be another of Seymour’s
family. Apart from her and two policemen from Bexleyheath the observers numbered
only three. One has put
her account of proceedings on-line.
† DI Keith Marshall is the Bexleyheath policeman who is on record with the
Independent Police Complaints Commission as stating that no offences have been
committed on Bexley-is-Bonkers.
Note dated 17th August 2012. At
an appeal hearing
where both Seymour and Bauer were called as witnesses and cross examined
it became clear that it was Seymour who had dishonestly exaggerated the content of the Tweet
in order to attempt a miscarriage of justice and Bauer had merely sent him a copy and took no part in its embellishment.