Reform UK weighs legal action over "unnecessary" Gosport police restrictions during anti-migrant protests

Hampshire Reform UK is considering a legal challenge over police restrictions imposed during disorder in Gosport, claiming some measures may have been too wide-ranging and remained in place for longer than necessary.

In a letter to Donna Jones, Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s police and crime commissioner (PCC), and Chief Constable Alexis Boon, Hampshire Reform UK leader George Madgwick said the party was reviewing the operation with legal advisers to decide whether judicial review proceedings should be brought.

He stressed the letter was not, at this stage, a formal legal claim.

The restrictions were introduced during events in Gosport on October 4 when a boat which had collected 149 migrants who were crossing the Channel was told to dock at Fort Blockhouse before the group was transported to Kent via land. This resulted in around 350 anti-migrant protesters gathering in the town.

Police powers included allowing officers to direct people to a designated protest area, disperse individuals from parts of Gosport, and require face coverings to be removed in certain circumstances.

Restrictions also covered parts of Portsmouth as well as Gosport.

In his letter, Cllr Madgwick said Reform UK supported “robust action against violence, criminal damage and obstruction” but questioned whether the restrictions were justified and proportionate.

He wrote: “Our concern is whether these extensive, pre-emptive restrictions were properly justified and whether less restrictive measures were considered.”

The letter argues that the area covered by the restrictions was particularly large and questions why parts of south-west Portsmouth were included.

It also raises concerns about how long some measures remained in force after police said crowds had dispersed.

Cllr Madgwick also said he had received reports from residents who were asked for identification or questioned before being allowed to return to their homes.

He wrote: “I am not presenting each of these accounts as an officially established fact. They are residents’ reports which require investigation and an explanation.”

Responding to the concerns, a spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the powers were used “to keep the local community and those engaged in protest activity safe”.

They said officers could only use the dispersal powers when they believed doing so would protect the public from crime and anti-social behaviour.

The spokesperson said: “That order covered the area where we assessed the community was likely to be impacted and gave officers the power to direct a person to leave the area and not to return within a specified time period.

“The powers were available for officers to use only when they identified a situation where requiring someone to leave the area would protect the public, and importantly the local community, from crime and anti-social behaviour.

“They do not impose a general requirement on those in the area and do not require people to stay in their homes.

“A direction cannot prevent someone from accessing their own home.”

The force added that, while cordons were in place, “some members of the public may have been asked to confirm where they were going to ensure there was a legitimate reason for doing so”.

The office of the PCC declined to comment on the substance of the concerns, adding that the issues raised were “operational police matters”.

Cllr Madgwick’s letter asks police to provide information about the decisions behind the restrictions, including risk assessments, the reasons for the areas chosen, whether alternatives were considered and any complaints received from residents.

Police made 12 arrests following the protest on October 4 for offences including assaulting police officers, affray and racially aggravated public order. Nails and screws were also thrown onto Gosport’s roads in an attempt to slow the coaches transporting the migrants, with bins also used as a make-shift barricade.

As previously reported by The News, the PCC said that the October 4 policing operation cost Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary more than £200,000.