Bus company ‘refused’ to move asylum seekers to Bibby Stockholm during protest

A number of people were surrounding the coach, which was in a bus lane, in Peckham, south-east London - HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP

A bus company refused to move asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge during a protest over fears about the negative publicity it could cause, a court has heard.

Police were made aware of people obstructing a coach that was parked outside a Best Western Hotel in Peckham, south-east London, at about 8.30am on May 2, Stratford magistrates’ court heard on Monday.

Jony Cink, 23, of Symphony Grove, Lewisham, London, and Indea Barbe-Wilson, 31, of Robert Keen Close, Peckham, went on trial charged with obstruction of the highway.

A number of people were surrounding the coach, which was in a bus lane, but traffic was able to move freely along the road initially, Supt Matt Cox said.

He said that he was informed by the company contracted by Border Force that they would no longer be moving the asylum seekers because “they did not want any negative publicity” and it “was not an enforced move”.

Police became aware that one of the coach’s tyres had been deflated and said a decision was made for officers to try to get between the protesters and the vehicle.

About 60 protesters later began to surround three police carriers that suspects were being placed inside, Timothy Fulford, prosecuting, told the court.

The group was “three layers deep and fortified with push bikes and hire bikes that were abandoned in the road”, Mr Fulford added.

About four hours after the protest started when arrests were being made, “there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on with police officers trying to remove protesters but also protesters trying to stop police officers undertaking their lawful duty”, Supt Cox said.

One of the protesters on trial she said that she 'wanted to go and stop [the asylum seekers] from being moved to Bibby Stockholm' - Paul Grover for the Telegraph

The whole road became blocked “very quickly”, Supt Cox added.

He tried to communicate with the protesters while a drummer followed him “making an awful lot of noise”, the court heard.

Mr Cink and Ms Barbe-Wilson were both arrested at about 3.15pm and the prosecution alleged that they were in the group blocking the movement of the police carriers seeking to transport suspects to custody, but the Crown could not say at which point the defendants entered the road.

Ms Barbe-Wilson told the court that she “wanted to stop [the asylum seekers] from experiencing any more trauma”.

During her evidence, she said that she “wanted to go and stop them from being moved to Bibby Stockholm” and arrived about five minutes before she was arrested.

The defendant said she believed that the coach was still in place and did not know it had already been moved and there had been arrests.

She said she sat, joined other protesters and started joining chants of “this is what community looks like”.

She said that from what she had read in the news about whistleblowers who had previously worked on Bibby Stockholm, “it is not a good place”, adding: “My understanding is that they wouldn’t be treated well, they would experience further trauma, they’re people who had been through enough already and had come here for safety.”

She added: “I wanted to stop them from experiencing any more trauma.”

She said: “Honestly, if I had known that the coach had not been there and if I had known there had already been arrests, I wouldn’t have sat down, I wouldn’t have the guts or thought there was any point in it, it wasn’t an anti-police action.”

It was estimated that the protesters were surrounding the police carriers for about two hours - Yui Mok/PA

Supt Cox said: “It was probably one of the most chaotic scenes and one of the hardest ones for police officers to deal with in a long time.”

The welfare of the suspects on the police carriers was a concern for him as they did not know who may or may not have needs to care for, he added.

He estimated the protesters were surrounding the police carriers for about two hours until 3.25pm.

Chief Insp Vicky Causbrook described “several hundred” people watching on at about 3pm who “weren’t able to catch buses or go about their daily lives”.

And a school wanted to let its students leave at the end of the day but “was afraid to because of the noise and the protest and the risk to the students”, she added.

Chief Insp Causbrook’s body-worn camera footage, which was played to the court, showed a police cordon near the scene as drums and chanting could be heard, and people booing at one stage.

The trial continues.

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