Trespass allegation at ex Chief Constable’s home

The Coopers were cleared of all charges laid against them.

We were instructed by Kyra Cooper who, with her mother Lady Cooper, was accused of causing criminal damage to the bungalow belonging to the ex Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys, Terence Grange. They were accused of entering property as trespassers, and not leaving at the request of the displaced residential occupier or his agent. Kyra was also accused of assault to an estate agent who had been showing her and her mother around the property. Both pleaded not guilty. The case went to trial in the Carmarthen Magistrates’ Court and after hearing all the evidence both defendants were acquitted.

It was an interesting case as it was one of the first in Dyfed Powys where the prosecution had  brought a charge under the  Criminal Trespass legislation which makes it an offence to enter property as a trespasser and not to vacate when asked to do so by a displaced residential occupier. There were a number of interesting legal issues in the case and the defence was that the defendants did not enter the property as trespassers as they had been invited in by the agent, the Police were not acting on the authority of Terence Grange, and he was not a displaced residential occupier as he was not living at the property.

The circumstances were that Lady Cooper had arranged with  estate agents to view the property, and then she and Kyra Cooper had shut themselves therein, together with Kyra’s 11 day old baby, leaving the estate agent outside. The police were summoned to attend, both by the agent, and by Lady Cooper, and when the police attended, they were told by Lady Cooper that the property was squatted as a peaceful protest.

Carmarthen Magistrates heard the case on 22nd and 23rd September 2008. Kyra Cooper was represented by Carina Hughes of counsel, instructed by our firm, and Lady Cooper represented herself. In her evidence Lady Cooper explained how they had occupied the bungalow as a protest against Dyfed Powys Police having ignored various complaints they had made over a period of years.

In Court the Magistrates heard evidence from a number of police officers who had attended the ex Chief Constable’s bungalow at the time, which included two Police Inspectors. The Court heard how the police, on finding the front door barricaded, and after some unfruitful negotiations with the defendants, made a decision to storm the property from the back, breaking through the glass patio doors, although it was conceded in Court that they were in possession of a full set of house keys and had not tried the key to the back door. Had they done so, it was stated in Court that they would have found the back door unlocked and not barricaded.

The Court  heard that the police were not acting on the authority of Terence Grange to break into the bungalow and carry out the arrests as he had not been spoken to at that stage, and the Court was told by the defendants that they were not trespassers as they had entered the property on the invitation of the estate agent.

After hearing all the evidence the Magistrates cleared both defendants of the charges against them.

Click here to go to the BBC news website for further information regarding this case