Man arrested after Tory MP attacked at squatting talk

Published on 24/11/2012 01:28

A MAN has been arrested in 
connection with an attack on a Conservative MP as he arrived at a talk about squatting.

Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove in East Sussex, had rocks and tomatoes thrown at him as he attended the event at the
University of Sussex, near
Brighton, on 14 November.
He had been invited to talk about his involvement in changing the law to criminalise 
squatting.

Before the debate could start, Mr Weatherley was surrounded by non-students.

Security officials barricaded the MP and his entourage in a room until the police arrived and took him to safety in a van.
One of Mr Weatherley’s team suffered a slight injury caused by a stone which had been thrown, according to police.

Sussex Police said that a 24-year-old man from Brighton was arrested yesterday on suspicion of affray.

Mr Weatherley has been campaigning for squatting to be criminalised since his election to parliament in 2010.

Under the powers contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which came into effect on 1 September, councils can remove squatters by simply complaining to the police who, if satisfied that the claim is genuine, can arrest the illegal tenants.