MR JUSTICE NICKLIN Approved Judgment
MBR Acres Ltd -v- Curtin
223. Both incidents are alleged to be an interference with the First Claimant’s common law right of access to the highway and part of a course of conduct involving harassment of the relevant employees. 224. In addition to the CCTV footage, the Production Manager and Employees A and B gave evidence at the trial. The Claimants relied upon the evidence of Employee C as hearsay. 225. The Production Manager was the driver of one of the vehicles whose exit from the Wyton Site was obstructed by the protestors on this day. The Production Manager identified Mr Curtin as one of the protestors and said that s/he felt that Mr Curtin’s pointing at him/her was threatening: “ I was scared that he might know who I was, and he was attacking me personally (even though I was wearing a balaclava and sunglasses…) ”. The Production Manager said that Mr Curtin’s actions made him/her feel anxious about his/her safety. 226. Employee A stated that Mr Curtin stood to the front and side of his/her vehicle, pointed at Employee A and shouted through a loudhailer “ Shame on you! Where do you tell people you work? ”. Mr Curtin’s actions of pointing at Employee A made him/her feel worried for his/her safety. The sound of the loudhailer so close to the car’s window was alarming. 227. Employee B stated that, as s/he was attempting to leave the Wyton Site, protestors blocked the road. Employee B recognised Mr Curtin, who had a loudhailer. Mr Curtin and another protestor stood in front of the car in front of Employee B’s vehicle, causing both vehicles to stop. Employee B said that s/he felt “ very scared and shaky ” as s/he was worried about what the protestors were going to do to the vehicles. S/he found it stressful and intimidating, particularly because there were no police or security personnel present. Employee B recalled hearing Mr Curtin shout, using the loudhailer: “ here comes the shit shovellers… hold them back ”. He was also yelling: “ shame on you! ”. 228. Employee C was attempting to leave the Wyton Site on the same occasion. S/he was unable to do so for a time because his/her exit was blocked by the protestors, one of whom was Mr Curtin. Employee C considered that Mr Curtin was organising the protestors because, as the vehicles were waiting to leave the Wyton Site, Mr Curtin used his loudhailer to address the other protestors and he said: “ For those who haven’t been here before, the workers are coming out now. The shit shovellers. And … because of an injunction and the police, the idea is to stand here, hold them back, keep moving and they’ll get to the road, and they’ll go off. ” Mr Curtin then removed the banners that were placed over the main gate and a line of protestors then stood in the path of the vehicles. Mr Curtin used his loudhailer to address the protestors: “ Move back! ” and then addressing the employees in the vehicles: “ Puppy killers… Shame on you. You’re scandalous! Have you noticed, have you noticed what everyone thinks about you now the secret’s out… Where do you tell people you work, puppy killer! ” 229. Employee C said that s/he felt intimidated during the incident: “ I was hostage to the protestors in front of my car ”. 230. After the incident, Employee C made a report to the police complaining that Mr Curtin had struck her car. Mr Curtin was apparently prosecuted, and Employee C attended to
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