Partial victory for G20 kettle duo

Two climate change campaigners have partially won their High Court battle over controversial "kettling" tactics used by the police during G20 demonstrations in central London two years ago.

Student Hannah McClure and Josh Moos, a campaigner for Plane Stupid, challenged the legality of the "violent" restraint methods used against them at the Camp for Climate Action in Bishopsgate on April 1 2009.

On Thursday the High Court ruled that the kettle could not be justified when it was imposed at 7.07pm, although it could have become necessary later in the evening to seal off side roads and impose a cordon to the north of the camp.

Two judges also said they were "not persuaded" that a "pushing operation against a 15-person deep crowd" was "reasonably necessary".

The climate camp kettle involved a tight police cordon being enforced round demonstrators for more than four hours.

Sir Anthony May, who is president of the Queen's Bench Division, and Mr Justice Sweeney rejected the campaigners' complaint that the police decided unlawfully to clear the climate camp before it was due to end.

The judges ruled: "The police had a duty to clear the highway, which could not be done without removing the protesters by force if necessary. If there were individual occasions when the force used may have been excessive, that is a matter for individual complaint, not for these judicial review proceedings."

The legality of police using riot shields to hit individuals - so-called "shield strikes" - was also called into question in the legal challenge.

The judges ruled: "The policy and training about the use of shields as it came over to us in the evidence appeared to be insufficient for individual circumstances. There needed to be clear-cut instructions as to whether shield strikes were ever justified, and, if so, when."

The demonstrators were represented by John Halford, of Bindmans solicitors, who said the court had "roundly condemned" the police actions: "To date, there have been few signs of a change in police attitudes and tactics since G20. This judgment could not give a clearer signal that that must happen immediately."