‘Stop Brexit Man' Steve Bray cleared of flouting police ban over Westminster music
An activist known as Stop Brexit Man has been cleared of flouting a police ban after playing anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit edits of The Muppet Show and Darth Vader's theme outside Parliament.
Steve Bray, 56, was playing music on March 20 last year before then-prime minister Rishi Sunak arrived for Prime Minister's Questions. Police had approached Mr Bray when he was stood on a traffic island at around 11.20am, and handed him a map to warn him he wasn't allowed to play the speakers in the controlled area under a by-law, the court heard. He resumed playing the music intermittently and, over an hour later, officers seized the speakers.
Mr Bray was found not guilty of failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 're prohibited activities in Parliament Square' at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
After the verdict, the defendant, wearing a blue and white short-sleeved shirt looked at his supporters in the public gallery, one of whom gave him a thumbs up.
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