Police arrest four Just Stop Oil protesters near Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport at night from hotel window / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
A group of Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested near Manchester Airport yesterday, it has been confirmed.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers from the force’s Specialist Operations Branch, supported by detectives from the Serious Crime Division, attended an incident yesterday morning (Monday 5 August 2024) near to Manchester Airport, and four people were subsequently arrested.
Three women aged 21, 30, and 53, and a man aged 23, were detained following a “proactive police operation” and arrested on suspicion of conspiring to cause a public nuisance.
#NEWS | Four Just Stop Oil protesters detained near Manchester Airport.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) August 5, 2024
A proactive policing operation saw us detain three women aged 21, 30, 53 and a man aged 23 on suspicion of conspiring to cause a public nuisance.
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GMP also stated that the four people arrested were found to be in possession of items that police believe would have been used to cause “damage” and “significant disruption” to the Airport and its operations.
The four individuals remain in police custody for questioning, and enquiries are currently ongoing.
“We have been working hard with colleagues from Manchester Airport and police forces across the country, sharing intelligence, with the common goal to prevent these disruptive and targeted attacks on our airports,” commented GMP’s Head of Specialist Operations, Chief Superintendent Mark Dexter, following the arrests.
“The right to protest must be respected, but we have a duty to balance that right against the rights of the public to go about their lives without being subject to unacceptable disruption, and will undertake swift and decisive action to arrest those intent on causing disturbances.”
CS Dexter said these arrests have “no doubt” prevented a “determined and targeted attack”.
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He added that the protesters actions would have brought “significant delays and upset” to people heading off for their summer holidays, if police action wasn’t taken.
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