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Order to hand over films

01 November 1994

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BBC, ITN, Sky News, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, the Daily Mirror and Today were all ordered to hand over to the police film footage and still photos of the Hyde Park Criminal Justice Bill demo. The demo, on 9 October, ended in violence in which it was claimed that 400 police were injured along with 50 members of the public, and £250,000 worth of damage done to shops. In a fiercely contested hearing in November, the news organisations argued that their journalists ran the risk of being targeted for violence as agents of the police by surrendering pictures taken on violent demos. The police argued that the material was necessary to enable them to bring offenders to justice. The judge agreed with the police that the danger to journalists was less important than the public interest in catching offenders. Meanwhile, following the updated guidelines giving Special Branch more of a public order role, observers were wondering how many of them will be seen playing a role in the filmed confrontation.

Independent, 3, 9 & 10.11.94.

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