Lift the Ban: charged

This is the second of a series of posts about my experience of the Defend our Juries (DoJ) 'Lift the Ban' campaign. As a starting point, my motivation, you can see where I am coming from in a book review that I wrote for Sofia magazine The Notion that the Polite, Western Liberal Ever Stood for Anything At All. Previous post: DoJ#1

Note: I shall be coming back to edit this from time to time. 

After release from Kentish Town police station at 12:30am on Sunday 10th August there was a nice welcoming committee from DoJ outside, but all I wanted to do was get home, so I got the tube to Euston where I (eventually) got a bus-replacement service to Milton Keynes and cycled home from the station at about 3am. I was down to do a reading at the 10am service at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone that morning so after a few hours sleep I cycled up to the church where the minister welcomed me and told the congregation, with broad approval, what I had done the day before. I think it is significant that there is general surprise (amazement) that I would do such a thing, but I've not yet met anyone in the congregation that disapproves (if they do, they've not told me). 

My bail had just one condition: that I don't "attend or participate in planned or unplanned demonstration in support of Palestine Action", and I was to return to Kentish Town police station to report back on bail on 21/10/2025. My wife and I had a holiday booked starting three weeks later: a five-week Interrailing trip around Europe. I emailed the Met police to see if my bail return date could be delayed until we got back but they wouldn't allow it, so we built into our trip a day return for me from Lille to London (fortunately my bail appoinment was for 2pm so the timing was OK to do it on a day return).

There was nothing in my bail conditions that stopped me from traveling abroad, but I was worried in case I missed any important communication from the police, so I emailed them and told them what I was doing, and that I wouldn't be picking up post but I could be contacted by email. They were fine with that, and once again it was somewhat surreal, as emails came to me signed:

Best regards. 
Alistair (not his real name*) 

Constable |  Investigations | Pod 1 - Team 2
Metropolitan Police | SO15 Counter Terrorism Command 

(*Name changed because it seemed like the right thing to do.) 

And in one email when I'd asked for something, even:

If there's anything else I can help with, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Best regards
Alistair

This 'respectful' response all the way along suggests to me that the people I am dealing with in the Met police (including the "Counter Terrorism Command"), the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) and the courts do not consider me a criminal. Maybe I'm being unfair to have expected otherwise: maybe they treat all suspects like this, since everyone is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Anyway, I am grateful for it: thank you not-his-real-name Alistair.

I especially wanted to know if and when I was charged, because I'd heard that when people had been charged they would have a court appearance in November and their bail return was cancelled - so I wouldn't have needed to do the day trip back to London.

In the event I was charged and my bail appointment cancelled. I was one of the 'privileged' first 20 (out of more than 500) arrested on 9th August to be charged, but I first heard about it from a press release by the Met Police on 1st October. It was weird to see myself ("[CXXXIV] David Chapman (27.04.1958), of Milton Keynes") publically threatened by the Met police like this. But the whole saga has been one new and weird experience after another and that is why I'm writing it up here.

They had charged me by post but of course I'd not been home to get the letter. TBH, I'm not convinced the charge was strictly legitimate because they knew I was not at home, but people in the know tell me there is no point arguing about that.

So I cancelled my return trip to London (losing £50 in the process) and started planning (with the help of the brilliant people of DoJ) for my plea hearing on 24th November at Westminster Magistrate's Court.