Gatwick Airport: Drone sightings cause delays

Couple released without charge over Gatwick drone ‘could win substantial payout’

The couple arrested and released without charge in relation to the Gatwick drone incident could win at least £75,000 from the newspapers who identified them, according to a leading libel lawyer.

Mark Stephens, head of media law at Howard Kennedy, said they had a strong legal case if they wished to pursue legal action. “Absent of a compelling reason and the police saying you can, you may no longer identify people who have been arrested.

“The damage is likely to be in the region of £75,000 to £125,000. It could be more when you total all of the news outlets, because each one is going to pay something for the damage it caused. I don’t see any lawyer who wouldn’t take it on a no-win-no-fee basis.”

Stephens said the case is the first major test of privacy law since Sir Cliff Richard’s landmark privacy victory against the BBC earlier this year, which set a higher bar for naming individuals who have been arrested but not charged.

Not all parts of the media named the couple, with most broadcasters and some national newspapers, including the Observer, deciding to stick to the police statement.

It is unclear whether the couple are currently planning legal action.

If I were them, I’d try for at least a million pounds … :wink:

Sack a few Police Commissioners and Chief Constables to pay for it.

Amazing that we the tax payer will end up compensating folks for the whole debacle… sigh

Something odd about this story…
Will the whole story ever be made public?

Good. I hope they sue the arse of them. Forty quid should shut the Grauniad down for good. :-p

I agree.
We are not being told everything.

No, I don’t think we are.

A damaged drone found outside the airport perimeter, a man in a yellow jacket scrambling to put a drone back into a bag, several people claiming to have seen a drone.

It doesn’t all add up unless, of course, everyone involved was seeing things.

Yesterday a drone hampered fire fighting efforts on Bruny Island, Tasmania causing all water bombing aircraft to be grounded.

The Gatwick incident

One drone
Many drones
No drones
Who knows

Hi

A French Company has today bought a controlling interest in Gatwick.

Yellow jacket drones anyone?

Could be more sightings in future.:slight_smile:

Calls for Sussex police to be taken off duty of guarding the airport. Significant problems apparently with their efficiency. No **** sherlock as my friend said :wink:

Talking of the police today, I’ve just been watching that well known old black and white film, ‘The Blue Lamp’.

One of the first lines on that film, spoken by a judge at the Old Bailey was:

“This is perhaps another illustration of a disaster caused by insufficient numbers of police. I have no doubt that one of the best preventives of crime is the regular uniformed police officer on the beat.”

It occurs to me that Mrs May has probably never watched that film. :roll:

Sussex Police ‘really sorry’ for arrested couple

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46709353

Sussex Police’s chief constable has said he feels “really sorry” for the couple who were held for 36 hours over the Gatwick Airport drones chaos.

Giles York told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “convinced the grounds for arrest were well-founded”.

He added: "I’m really sorry for what [Mr Gait] has experienced and the feeling of violation around it.

"[But] what might have been worse as an experience for him would have been to be released under investigation still.

“We were able to exhaust all our lines of inquiry on that first instance and were able to release him from police custody saying he was no longer a suspect.”

A suggestion by a senior Sussex police officer that there may have been no drones was later dismissed as a miscommunication.

Mr York said police received 115 reports of sightings, including 92 confirmed as coming from “credible people”.

However, he admitted that police drones launched to investigate could have caused "some level of confusion".

BIB - well, they would do, wouldn’t they … :roll:

Fingerprints found on the damaged drone recovered from near Gatwick Airport do not match those of any known eco warriors.

Sussex Police ran the prints through the National Fingerprint Database but they drew a blank.

Those eco-warriors have been known to be unknown … :wink:

What’s BIB?

BIB Bit in Bold (Internet slang)

Ah, thank you.

All I could think of was ‘But I Believe’, but it didn’t make sense.

Always thought this story was a bit odd as it went on for too long.

A report by a police source states it could have been a Police drone.

Odder and odder.