MR JUSTICE NICKLIN Approved Judgment
MBR Acres Ltd -v- Curtin
Employee F accepted that Mr Curtin was not responsible for publishing Employee F’s photograph online and that he was not responsible for sending abusive messages to Employee F. 161. In her witness statement, relied upon as hearsay evidence by the Claimants, Ms Read described the incident on 13 July 2021 as follows: “On 13 July 2021 at 15:56, protestors stood in the Access Road and obstructed the convoy of staff vehicles as we sought to leave the Wyton Site, as shown in Video 24. I was in my green Vauxhall, which was third in the convoy. [Two protestors] stood directly in front of my car as I sought to exit the Wyton Site, causing me to need to stop on the Driveway for around 50 seconds before I was able to slowly pass them; the incident prevented me having free passage along the Access Road and to the main carriageway of the Highway. [One of these protestors] was yelling ‘shame on you’. I found [this protestor] very intimidating as he was so in my face and so close to my car. I was shaking by the time I got past him. I just did not know what to expect from him given his behaviour, and I feared for my safety. I also found [the other protestor] very intimidating, as he was so worked up, and seemed to be ranting, and kept making reference to whether I was ‘proud’ of my job. He did not appear to be acting rationally, so I was worried about what he would do. John Curtin was also standing to the side of my car, whilst using a loudhailer to shout at me. He can be heard yelling ‘leave this place...are you seriously thinking that this time next year you want to be working at this hellhole...it’s your choice’. I was just trying to ignore him and just drive safely. In another video of the same incident (Video 22), I can see [another female protestor] standing near the bell mouth of the Access Road and to the side of my car (once I have been able to reach that point) and holding posters to my windows and touching my car. I had to stop the car because of her presence. I was thinking of the traffic ahead, because I was trying to join the main carriageway of the Highway, and that this was a road traffic accident waiting to happen, and I was hoping that [she] would move. I then managed to get away. I remember not being able to see because of all the protestors crowding around my car, and the parked cars at the entrance to the Access Road. In Video 21, [another protestor] can be seen stepping back and forth in front of my car, looking like he was moving to the side and then stepping back in front of me; his movements made it very difficult to drive past him. There was also a woman in a baseball cap… standing to the front and side of my car, with a placard.” 162. Although Mr Curtin was not able to cross-examine Ms Read, I readily accept the description she gives of the incident because it is corroborated by the video footage. 163. Mr Curtin was cross-examined about this incident by reference to the video footage. Police officers were present during the incident. Mr Curtin disputed that he was obstructing the vehicles leaving the Wyton Site, but I am quite satisfied that – together with the other protestors involved in the incident – he was. Indeed, an essential part of the ‘ritual’ was delaying and confronting those entering and exiting the Wyton Site with the protestors’ message; that was the hallmark of the pre-injunction period. As Mr Curtin accepted in cross-examination, when the vehicles were slowed down or
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