Protestor against £50m waste incinerator accused of being terrorist

Sep 2 2010 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

A PROTESTOR against a controversial £50m waste incinerator sparked a terrorist alert after he was accused of taking photographs on his mobile phone outside a police station.

Dovesdale Action Group campaigner Philip Brunton was quizzed by police 24 hours after he sat in his parked car outside Larkhall Police Office.

Mr Brunton said he was there to “observe” who was attending a private meeting held at the police station between Scotgen, who are behind the gastification plant at Dovesdale Farm near Stonehouse, members of Larkhall Community Council, Netherburn and Ashgill Community Council, the town’s four councillors and other invited guests.

Dovesdale Action Group, who are opposed to the facility, were furious that they or any members of the public weren’t invited to the meeting.

Mr Brunton turned up to find out what was going on.

He claimed that while stationed outside the police office a representative of Larkhall Community Council came over to him and said he would prosecute him if he was there to take photographs on his mobile phone of people going in and out of the meeting.

Twenty-four hours later police visited Mr Brunton’s Stonehouse’s home in Murray Drive and questioned him about what he was doing.

They advised him that it “wasn’t a good idea” to sit outside a police station, particularly at a time when the UK is on terrorist alert.

Mr Brunton told the Advertiser: “They (police) said do you know why we’re here.

“I said ‘no’ and invited them in.

“They said that I had been sitting outside the police station in Larkhall and that I could have been checking on the movements of police officers or undercover officers who use that station.

“They basically said I was not allowed to sit outside a police station and observe what was happening

“They only said don’t let it happen again.

“I was there observing who was going in to a meeting that the general public were not invited to.

“I absolutely did not take any photographs.

“I even offered my phone to the police when they visited me.

“They could have taken it away and examined it if they wanted. They did not want to.”

Paul McGilvray, leader of the Dovesdale Action Group, said: “Philip was seeing who was coming in and out of the meeting and then later got a visit from the police.

“Police were concerned that undercover police officers were being monitored and terrorism could be behind it.

“They waited 24 hours before speaking to him.

“He was sitting outside the police station in a car that was taxed, insured and had an MOT and wasn't parked illegally.

“They said there was a risk of officers going in and out of the station being monitored and could be outed, and given the current climate of terrorism, sitting there wasn't a good idea.”

Sergeant David Coultard, of Larkhall Police Office, said: “We received a complaint about a man allegedly sitting outside the police station in his car and using his mobile phone to take pictures of the building, or of people who were leaving a private meeting that was taking place in the police station.

“We have to treat a complaint like this seriously and our officers attended his home.

“The man said he wasn’t taking photographs on his mobile phone, and officers didn’t take it off of him.

“They spoke to him in relation to how his actions could be construed and advised him that it wasn’t a good idea or in his interest to sit outside a police station, particularly in the view of the current level of threat of terrorism to the UK.

“In situations like this, we have to look at the worst case scenario.”