A police raid on an east London arts space where four people were arrested has been deemed unlawful by the High Court.
In June 25, 2021, police officers raided the Antepavilion arts exhibition space in Hackney.
After entering the Columbia Wharf complex, police officers arrested four people and seized tools, materials, documents and mobile phones. The four people were later released without charge.
Officers from the Territorial Support Group, which deals with major incidents and counterterrorism, and the crew of a police boat broke into the site at Hoxton Docks in east London, which was hosting the Antepavilion annual architecture commission.
Among the works was a sculpture called All Along the Watchtower, made of bamboo poles and steel cables, resembling a structure used at protests last year by the climate action group Extinction Rebellion (XR).
The ruling from the High Court found the seizure and arrest of the four people unlawful earlier this month and has ordered the Met to return all material which was seized and notify the defendant of "any material uplifted, whether electronic or otherwise”.
All material derived from the raid must not be used “by the Metropolitan Police Service or for the purposes of any proceedings which are either civil or criminal in nature”, the court paper adds.
The Met has also been asked to reimburse the owners of any losses which were incurred and repay court fees.
“It won’t stop here,” Russell Gray of Shiva Ltd, the building’s owner and Antepavilion's sponsor of commissions told The Arts Newspaper.
“There are still unanswered questions about the grounds for the action taken and who took the decision to act in this way.”
A Met Police statement read: “The Metropolitan Police Service received an application for permission to bring a judicial review claim from Shiva Ltd and Antepavilion Ltd on 30 September 2021, alleging that the search of premises at 53-55 Laburnum St E2 and seizure of items was unlawful.
“The Administrative Court gave permission to bring the claim on 24 June 2022.
“This claim was resolved between parties prior to a substantive hearing. The matter is now concluded.”
