“Bias” and “an Abuse of Process” and an “Affront to Justice”.
In 1977 the Newham City Farm was set up. In 2021, Newham Council resolved to shut it down.
The loss was keenly felt, not only by the staff and the volunteers, but by the many families that used the farm and the children who enjoyed a unique learning experience.
The council’s approach was led politically by Cllr James Asser who was then head of Public Realm. This led to campaigners targeting him and the Beckton ward during the 2022 council elections. In the event, the campaigners were unsuccessful and Asser retained his seat.
Campaigners, united under the banner of The Green Party got to within 300 votes of the lowest Labour candidate, slashing the previous Labour majority. (In 2018, the lowest Labour candidate got almost 900 votes more than the nearest opposition candidate). Asser saw his personal vote drop from 1722 votes, to 1386 in 2022.
In what appeared to campaigners to be pay-back for opposing the council decision, criminal proceedings were launched against several of the City Farm staff by the council. The Borough prosecuted their former employees for numerous offences relating to the welfare of the farm’s animals and the maintenance of the farm.
The workers’ barrister argued at court, “that the prosecution should never have been brought as the Borough was potentially criminally liable for the offences brought against the defendants.” That is to say, if the staff were criminally liable, then so was the council. That might have been embarrassing for the mayor and cabinet.
Their barrister “submitted that the prosecution was biased, politically motivated, and that her clients had been scapegoated.”
It seems that the judge agreed with her.
The Judge stayed the criminal proceedings as an abuse of process, finding: “There is evidence of bias, lack of independence, and it would be an affront to justice to continue this prosecution.”
It is difficult to see how this could be more damning of the current Deputy Mayor and his boss.
They were guilty of
An abuse of process
Bias
A politically motivated prosecution
Scapegoating their own staff
Lack of independence
An affront to justice
There is a serious question here about the willingness of politicians, unchecked by either an opposition or their own conscience, to abuse their power.
Of course, we do not expect anyone to be held accountable. Our Green councillors might choose to raise this matter at the next meeting of the council and possibly ask for Asser’s resignation, but Labour councillors seem to be remarkably tight-lipped at the moment.
Perhaps it is just embarrassment, you know, the party of the workers prosecuting the workers, and then abusing the legal process in order to scapegoat their own staff.