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Fathers 4 Justice
Fathers 4 Justice (or F4J) is a fathers' rights organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2003, the group aims to gain public and parliamentary support for changes in UK legislation on fathers' rights mainly by staging stunts and protests, often conducted in costume.
F4J was founded in the UK by Matt O'Connor, a marketing consultant. He is the sole shareholder and a director of Fathers For Justice Limited.
On 21 October 2003, campaigners Eddie "Goldtooth" Gorecki and Jonathan "Jolly" Stanesby scaled the Royal Courts of Justice in London while dressed respectively as Batman and Robin. The following day, the group's members protested through London in a military tank in support of Goreckwi and Stanesby. Nine days later, David Chick climbed a 120 feet (37 m) crane near Tower Bridge while dressed as Spider-Man. The Metropolitan Police subsequently set up a cordon around the area that disrupted traffic through some of East London for several days. Chick was later cleared of criminal charges.
In 2004, Stanesby carried out a "citizen's arrest" of the then-Minister of State for Children Margaret Hodge at a conference, handcuffing himself to her and stating: "Margaret Hodge, I'm arresting you for covering up child abuse." Both Stanseby and Jason Hatch (who had also attempted to handcuff himself to Hodge) were later cleared of false imprisonment charges by a jury.
On 19 May 2004, an alert was caused when two members of the group threw purple flour bombs at Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons. Charged with public order offences, activist Guy Harrison was fined £600, and Ron Davis given a conditional discharge.[citation needed] Following the House of Commons incident, The Times wrote that the group "has succeeded in becoming the most prominent guerrilla pressure group in Britain... within eighteen months of its founding".
In September 2004, member Jason Hatch climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman; all charges relating to his protest were later dropped. Also in September, David Chick climbed the London Eye, forcing the attraction to close. He was found not guilty of charges of causing a public nuisance.
In May 2005, campaigners dressed as superheroes protested on top of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield during the World Snooker Championship.
Protester Ray Barry also climbed St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton on Fathers Day in June. He was later cleared of a public order offence charge, after which he repeated the protest on Christmas Day. On 27 September 2005, protester Guy Harrison climbed the Palace of Westminster unveiling a banner stating "Does Blair care? For Fawkes sake change family law." A jury acquitted him of the charge of committing a public nuisance offence.
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Fathers 4 Justice
Fathers 4 Justice (or F4J) is a fathers' rights organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2003, the group aims to gain public and parliamentary support for changes in UK legislation on fathers' rights mainly by staging stunts and protests, often conducted in costume.
F4J was founded in the UK by Matt O'Connor, a marketing consultant. He is the sole shareholder and a director of Fathers For Justice Limited.
On 21 October 2003, campaigners Eddie "Goldtooth" Gorecki and Jonathan "Jolly" Stanesby scaled the Royal Courts of Justice in London while dressed respectively as Batman and Robin. The following day, the group's members protested through London in a military tank in support of Goreckwi and Stanesby. Nine days later, David Chick climbed a 120 feet (37 m) crane near Tower Bridge while dressed as Spider-Man. The Metropolitan Police subsequently set up a cordon around the area that disrupted traffic through some of East London for several days. Chick was later cleared of criminal charges.
In 2004, Stanesby carried out a "citizen's arrest" of the then-Minister of State for Children Margaret Hodge at a conference, handcuffing himself to her and stating: "Margaret Hodge, I'm arresting you for covering up child abuse." Both Stanseby and Jason Hatch (who had also attempted to handcuff himself to Hodge) were later cleared of false imprisonment charges by a jury.
On 19 May 2004, an alert was caused when two members of the group threw purple flour bombs at Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons. Charged with public order offences, activist Guy Harrison was fined £600, and Ron Davis given a conditional discharge.[citation needed] Following the House of Commons incident, The Times wrote that the group "has succeeded in becoming the most prominent guerrilla pressure group in Britain... within eighteen months of its founding".
In September 2004, member Jason Hatch climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman; all charges relating to his protest were later dropped. Also in September, David Chick climbed the London Eye, forcing the attraction to close. He was found not guilty of charges of causing a public nuisance.
In May 2005, campaigners dressed as superheroes protested on top of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield during the World Snooker Championship.
Protester Ray Barry also climbed St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton on Fathers Day in June. He was later cleared of a public order offence charge, after which he repeated the protest on Christmas Day. On 27 September 2005, protester Guy Harrison climbed the Palace of Westminster unveiling a banner stating "Does Blair care? For Fawkes sake change family law." A jury acquitted him of the charge of committing a public nuisance offence.