Arresting members of the press as they covered Just Stop Oil protests on the M25 this week was “wrong”, the Police and Crime Commissioner of Hertfordshire Police admitted on Thursday.
His comments come after several journalists were arrested while reporting on the protests, sparking calls for press freedom which have been backed by senior police officers and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Her experience came a day after documentary maker Rich Felgate and photographer Tom Bowles were also arrested for reporting on the activists on the M25 in Hertfordshire.
On Thursday morning David Lloyd, Police and Crime Commissioner of Hertfordshire Police, amitted the force had “got it wrong”.
Yesterday I was arrested by @HertsPolice whilst covering a protest on the M25.
— Charlotte Lynch (@charlotterlynch) November 9, 2022
I showed my press card, and I was handcuffed almost immediately. My phone was snatched out of my hand. I was searched twice, held in a cell for 5 hours, and I wasn’t questioned whilst in custody.
Asked on LBC whether the detention of the three members of the press was an attempt to restrict coverage of the demonstration, MrLloyd said: “I am certain that there was no reason to arrest them such as you have given. As I said at the outset, I think we got it wrong.”
But he insisted journalists should be “thinking about” whether it was right to give the protests the “oxygen of publicity”.
Presenter Nick Ferrari replied: “This is news – if you close vast tracks of a 116-mile orbital road because of one particular protest… that’s what we in the business call news.”
But the officer doubled down on his criticism of the way events along the motorway had been covered in the media.
He drew a comparison with how he imagined the press would report on a person trying to take their own life on a ring road, which he did not think would be covered “in the same way”.
“I recognise it’s news, I recognise it’s interesting. But it would similarly be news if a vast portion of an orbital motorway were closed because someone was trying to [take their own life],” he said.
“You wouldn’t be reporting that in the same way. I’m very much up for a free press, but I just think that voluntarily you should be thinking about how do we report that.”
His comments come after Hertfordshire Police, in a statement released on Wednesday evening, acknowledged that while the actions of its officers at the scene were “understandable”, the arrest “would not have been necessary”.
The force concluded: “Though the actions of the officers at the scene are understandable, in retrospect an arrest would not have been necessary.”
Following the arrests, Rishi Sunak joined police chiefs in calling for press freedom, saying it is “vital” that journalists are able to do their job freely, “without restriction”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “I am cautious about commenting on specific incidents. Operational decisions are a matter for the police but the Prime Minister strongly believes in championing press freedoms.
“We wouldn’t want to see those freedoms impeded while journalists are going about their day-to-day business.”
Ms Lynch had been reporting on the activists from a road bridge over junction 21 of the M25 on Tuesday for about 45 minutes when she was approached and questioned by two officers.
After showing them a press card and having explained she was reporting on the demonstration, the officers handcuffed her, took her phone and arrested her on conspiracy to commit a public nuisance.
They wanted to know how she knew about the protest, said Ms Lynch.
She said: “It was absolutely terrifying being in a cell with a pad for a bed in one corner and a metal toilet in the other.
“I was just doing my job. What’s also terrifying is what this means for press freedom. It was blindingly obvious I was a reporter.”
Documentary maker Mr Felgate and photographer Mr Bowles had been capturing footage and pictures of activists on a footbridge over the M25 near Kings Langley, at close to 11am on Monday when they were handcuffed.
'Then I was in that cell for five hours and I just sat there and cried.'
— LBC (@LBC) November 9, 2022
LBC Reporter Charlotte Lynch tells James O'Brien she 'just lost it' while being under arrest for covering an eco-protest.@mrjamesob | @charlotterlynch pic.twitter.com/2S9BEvHa4P
The pair, both of whom say they have no affiliation with the group, had their equipment seized and were taken to a police station, despite efforts to show their press cards.
Mr Bowles, 47, from Hackney, east London, told the PA news agency he was held until 1.30am, hours after his wife and 14-year-old daughter were woken up as three officers searched their home.
Speaking to journalists at a conference in Westminster on Wednesday, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Martin Hewitt, said officers are under pressure when dealing with protesters but media should not be prevented from reporting on them.
He said: “There’s an enormous amount of pressure in play around those protest issues for the reasons that you would understand.
“But, of course, there is a right for journalists to go and report on those occasions and that shouldn’t be prevented in any way.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “Press freedom is really important and you will often want to be – and quite rightly be – quite close to where difficult things are happening so you can report it well and I absolutely, absolutely support that.
The protests are a source of legitimate public interest and journalists, filmmakers and photographers have a right to attend protests and report on behalf of the public
“The principle that you’re going to be close to the action sometimes, and we should be sensitive to press freedom, of course, I completely agree with.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman later said the reports she had heard were “concerning”, but added that any investigation into what happened should be allowed “to run its course” without pre-judgment.
It came after Liberal Democrat MP Daisy Cooper asked the Commons deputy speaker Nigel Evans how the House could summon Ms Braverman to explain and apologise for the treatment of journalists covering protests given the “severity of the incidents”.
Ms Cooper, the MP for St Albans, added: “We are not an authoritarian state. The ability of journalists to do their job unhindered is a vital part of our democracy.”
Hertfordshire Police said officers had been “using their professional judgment” to clear possible protesters from the roads.
A statement from the force said additional measures are now in place to ensure that legitimate media can do their job, with officers instructed to ensure they conduct “full and thorough checks” before making an arrest decision, and get final approval by a supervisor.
The force said: “In addition, Mr (Chief Constable Charlie) Hall is requesting an independent force to examine our approach to these arrests and to identify any learning we should take in managing these challenging situations.”
Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, said they are “deeply concerned” by the arrests, adding that journalists, filmmakers and photographers “have a right to attend protests and report on behalf of the public”.
Former shadow attorney general, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, told LBC the situation is “very, very serious” accusing the police of “effectively shutting down the free press, the free media, in this country”.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan also said: “Journalists shouldn’t get arrested for doing their job.”
