MR JUSTICE NICKLIN Approved Judgment
MBR Acres Ltd -v- Curtin
height of a one storey building , which I would say happens about 20–40% of the time I see a drone flight over the Wyton Site. Very occasionally, they come down very low, so it feels like I could reach up and grab the drone . It is very concerning when the low and erratic flights happen, as they drop them suddenly from quite a height. I fear for my safety on these occasions as a drone dropped from such a height could potentially cause physical harm to me or one of my colleagues. I am often concerned for the safety of the staff when the protestors are flying the drones. Typically, the pilot will be sitting in the tent outside the Gate, and will not have a clear view of where the drone is flying. If they were to lose video signal on the drone, they would not be able to see what they were doing and someone could be injured. I have also noticed the protestors fly the drones directly overhead the Wyton Site, and over areas that cannot be observed from the fence line of the Site; I believe that the drones are flown there so they can see what the staff are doing every step of the way during the day. In this respect, there is no privacy. Due to the nature of my role, I spend a lot of time working outside on the Wyton Site, making sure the site is secure and checking the fence, so I have seen a lot of the drones being flown around the site. I do not like being outside when the drones are being flown, because I find them dangerous for the reasons outlined above. However, I have no choice to be outside, as part of my job is keeping an eye on what is going on around the Wyton Site. I am responsible for logging whenever there is a drone sighted on site. I log the date and time each time a drone goes up and is brought down by the protestors. I also try to locate who the pilot is by looking around outside the perimeter of the Wyton Site, and into their camp to see who goes to retrieve the drone when it lands. The security staff undertaking the nightshift follow the same process, and write it on a whiteboard for me to review when I return to work the next day. I then update a central spreadsheet, which I started keeping in September 2022… The CCTV sometimes captures the use of the drones, but they are very small and move around so quickly that they can be hard to spot on CCTV footage.” Employee A stated: “Previously, when the protestors were flying a drone flying over area of the Wyton Site on which I was working, my colleagues used to stop carrying out tasks outside; we did not want to be identified by the protestors or have footage of us posted online (which the protestors do regularly). Stopping outdoor tasks whilst drones were flying meant that anything we needed to do was delayed. For example, part of my role is taking the electric meter reading in the generator room, which involves walking across the car park. On the occasions when I have heard from my colleagues that the protestors are flying the drone, I will delay undertaking the task until I have heard that the drone has come down. I often hear the drones flying, even from inside the office, however as I am not often outside I do not know how low they fly. If I ever do go outside, such as when moving between buildings or during my breaks, to prevent the drone camera capturing images of my face and being identified as a result, I put a mask on and make sure that my face is covered.
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