Should Mark Field be charged with assault?

[vwdan]

For what exactly?

Depends what CPS would like to go with, but I personally believe there is a case to be answered for something along the lines of Common Assault/Battery etc. Personally, I think it could be argued that his use of force was disproportionate and unreasonable, and therefore unlawful.

If she's injured/marked etc then he could have a problem.

In real life, CPS and the Police will certainly be taking into account his public status - and maybe "in the public interest" will win over for him, with a nice apology and handshakes all around.

[meridian]

They'll manhandle anything they are capable of. Looking how instinctively reacted I'd be willing to bet he didn't consider who or what it was in this case.

But.. I don't think 'because she's a woman' is a valid defense. If you aren't big enough or strong enough to enter a situation that could end in a fracas then you don't do it. Plenty of blokes could have been bowled over as easily as that and plenty of women would have flattened him. It's not about gender.

I’m pointing out the discrepancy between what happened when it was a large bloke invading, and when it was a petite woman. Funny how it gets the juices flowing for certain posters here when it’s a woman getting her “comeuppance”...

In the McVey instance the invader was handled appropriately. In the instance last night the vast majority of the invaders were handled appropriately. In this specific instance of the MP it wasn’t handled appropriately. It’s not difficult to make that distinction.

I doubt there’s a genuine case for assault - he was rough and handled it badly (amateurishly / boorishly) and it’ll be headlines for a day or so before we move on to the next outrage....

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Dunno.

What does the DM comments section say?

[northernladuk]

Depends what CPS would like to go with, but I personally believe there is a case to be answered for something along the lines of Common Assault/Battery etc. Personally, I think it could be argued that his use of force was disproportionate and unreasonable, and therefore unlawful.

Not a chance. If that's common assault/battery then the country is truly screwed. It would also be a complete waste of time and money. Other factors are..

He can quite reasonably claim defense of a crime which would be difficult to argue.
Common assault also does not consider equality of size so the claims she was a woman wouldn't help her cause.
The woman won't prosecute because the backlash from people sick of these activists won't help their agenda either.

As other have said, over-reaction and a non story. No need to any more money or time be spent on this one.

[vwdan]

Not a chance. If that's common assault/battery then the country is truly screwed. It would also be a complete waste of time and money. Other factors are..

He can quite reasonably claim defense of a crime which would be difficult to argue.
Common assault also does not consider equality of size so the claims she was a woman wouldn't help her cause.
The woman won't prosecute because the backlash from people sick of these activists won't help their agenda either.

As other have said, over-reaction and a non story. No need to any more money or time be spent on this one.

Really? Here's the CPS guidelines:

Self-Defence and the Prevention of Crime | The Crown Prosecution Service

Note these points:

Self-defence is available as a defence to crimes committed by use of force.

Section 3 applies to the prevention of crime and effecting, or assisting in, the lawful arrest of offenders and suspected offenders. There is an obvious overlap between self-defence and section 3. However, section 3 only applies to crime and not to civil matters. So, for instance, it cannot afford a defence in repelling trespassers by force, unless the trespassers are involved in some form of criminal conduct.

In assessing the reasonableness of the force used, prosecutors should ask two questions:

was the use of force necessary in the circumstances, i.e. Was there a need for any force at all? and
was the force used reasonable in the circumstances?

I think he's on dodgy ground. Look, it's a minor offence don't get me wrong - I'm not calling for him to be hung for it. IF it gets prosecuted, and IF he's found guilty then I wouldn't expect anything other than a slap on the wrist - even ignoring his position.

But I don't think it's anywhere near as cut and dry as you think. And the threshold for Common Assault is exceptionally low, as is the definition of battery. I mean, force was used - there's no disputing that. The question, as above, is whether that force was reasonable, necessary and proportional in the circumstances.

Careful on this one:

Common assault also does not consider equality of size so the claims she was a woman wouldn't help her cause.

The law also doesn't say it's different being attacked by a small child, vs a big guy. That's why the wording is somewhat woolly - it's all about circumstance. It may be reasonable to put all your force behind punching a big bloke who's threatening to punch you and to spark him out - the same defense isn't going to fly for some slightly off the rails 10 year old

[vetran]

I genuinely disagree. I don't think a well trained Police officer would have approached that with so much force at that point - it didn't look proportional to me, and I don't think he was genuinely in fear of being attacked/assaulted etc. Trespass alone isn't generally considered to be criminal, so despite what your average bouncer may think is okay, your right to use force is hugely curtailed.

As to your second point, well, sexism still reigns - but that doesn't make THIS case okay.

It's all well and good people saying "What if she was a bloke" etc, but she wasn't. Anybody who claims they feel the same amount of intimidation between a 6'6 rugby player vs a petite woman (I'm not saying she was) is lying. I'm also not saying you can't be hurt by a woman, but the case should be taken on its merits - not hypotheticals. It wasn't a huge rugby player storming in and it wasn't a 12 year old girl

Oh look an expert opinion

Self-Defence and how to restrain an attacker

Hey pushed her against a pillar so she didn't get past and threaten anyone else, During that move he got up and turned around. He then steered her to the exit whilst maintaining a safe distance.


Again I mention many female friends are skilled in martial arts or have gone to self defence classes. You have no idea who you are going up against.

One of the scariest fights I had at school was with a bully who was 2/3rds of my height, he was a vicious little bastard, I had to wrestle him to the ground and restrain him but he got plenty of good punches in. I also have sisters and I can assure you they were not particularly gentle.

Greenpeace said in a statement that they intended to 'flash-mob the Chancellor's podium, hijack the microphone and give the speech we all need in a climate emergency.'

so they were heading to the Podium & chancellor.

The protesters were among 40 volunteers who 'gatecrashed' the Chancellor's Mansion House speech, according to Greenpeace.

so not really a threat. If they had done that to POTUS they would have been shot or beaten to the ground.

[vwdan]

<snip>.

I'm honestly not sure what you're arguing. Look, I've been in scraps - I'm not saying that it's easy to contain somebody. What I'm saying is that, for me, there's probably a case to be answered as to whether he should have used force, and whether that force was reasonable.

And in judging that, the jury can and will absolutely take into account that she was an unarmed female. To pretend otherwise is just ludicrous.

I'm also not outright saying he's guilty, just that I personally would say there's a case to answer there.

[RetSet]

She's part of a nutter terrorist organisation.

She's lucky she didn't get double tapped on entering the room.

[Jog On]

She didn't 'deserve it' she made it happen because of her actions, in hindsight a successful security presence would have been better.

After watching that Bodyguard programme with Keely Hawes and Rob Stark I'm amazed these protesters even got into the same room as all those high ranking politicians and an MP had to get involved...

She could have been wearing a suicide bomb and taken them all out. Where the heck was Rob Stark?!

And FWIW - whoever you are and whatever your reason, if you are going to storm something like this and try and take the mic from the chancellor of the exchequer you are putting yourself in the line of fire.

[WordIsBond]

Trespass alone isn't generally considered to be criminal

This wasn't trespass alone, it was breach of the peace. He had the right to stop it and make a citizen's arrest if he so chose. He had no right to use excessive force, but that would be a hard threshold to prove, IMO, judging by the video. He used force but it did not appear to be disproportionate and did not injure her.