Ex-Grimsby man faces Aussie court

Grimsby-born activist Gary Meyerhoff has become the first person to be successfully prosecuted by Darwin City Council in Australia for putting up a poster without a permit.

Meyerhoff, who holds joint British and Australian citizenship, lost his appeal against the conviction earlier this month in the Northern Territory Supreme Court. He was arrested in August last year when he was caught sticking up posters for a drug-reform festival, having been denied a permit by the council. He was found guilty of the offence in October.

The judge, Justice Stephen Southwood, ordered Meyerhoff to be on good behaviour for 12 months and to appear before the Court of Summary Jurisdiction if called upon to do so during the period of the order.

However he rejected the council's application for costs, referring to the case as "public-interest litigation".

Meyerhoff said: "The permit system merely creates the illusion that a fair and democratic process exists and that we have free speech in Australia. This is all part of the illusion that Australia is a democracy."

The former Enfield Primary School pupil is waiting for a court date for his appeal against a 21-month jail sentence for disrupting the Northern Parliament while in in session in 2002.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 27 April 2005
Source: Grimsby Evening Telegraph
Website: http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk
Copyright: 2005 Northcliffe Newspapers Group Ltd