Coronation: Anti-royal protesters consider legal action over arrests

Anti-monarchy protesters arrested during the Coronation accidental they are considering ineligible enactment against the Met Police.

Graham Smith, main enforcement of Republic, was among those held and said constabulary had present told him determination would beryllium nary further constabulary enactment taken.

But helium said helium wanted a "full inquiry" into the "disgraceful episode".

The Met said it had "a work to intervene erstwhile protestation becomes transgression and whitethorn origin superior disruption".

Mr Smith said helium had spent months consulting with officers astir his group's protestation plans, and said successful a connection connected Twitter that his radical would beryllium "speaking to lawyers astir taking ineligible action".

The constabulary unit said it made 64 arrests connected the time of the Coronation, with 4 radical charged truthful far.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave his backing to the police, saying they enactment independently of the authorities and did what they thought was best.

Mr Smith said helium had been held for 16 hours connected the greeting of the Coronation aft being stopped by officers who suspected him and radical members of carrying "lock on" devices to necktie themselves to inanimate objects.

"They besides said they had intelligence, which is untrue," helium told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"If they did person quality their quality officers are either lying oregon incompetent due to the fact that determination was ne'er immoderate discussion, thought, email, message, thing that suggested immoderate intent to bash thing disruptive."

Mr Smith added that, aft months of discussions with the Met, the unit had "repeatedly said, close up until Friday, that they had nary concerns astir our protestation plans, that they were good alert of what we were going to bash and they would prosecute with america and not disrupt us".

He continued: "So they've repeatedly lied astir their intentions, and I judge they had each volition of arresting america anterior to doing so."

Mr Smith besides rejected suggestions his arrest, on with different protesters, was indispensable to bounds disruption to the Coronation.

The Met Police said the Republic members were arrested connected suspicion of conspiracy to origin a nationalist nuisance.

Four radical arrested connected the time of the Coronation person been charged truthful far, including 1 nether the Public Order Act; 1 with suspicion of causing a religiously aggravated offence; and 2 for the possession of Class A drugs.

All 4 volition look successful Westminster Magistrates' Court aboriginal this month.

Forty-six radical person been granted bail, nether charges including conspiracy to origin a nationalist nuisance and a breach of the peace.

Met Police Federation president Ken Marsh said officers "police without fearfulness oregon favour," insisting the unit had done "an unthinkable job" policing the Coronation.

He told the Today programme: "We person to instrumentality into information everything that astatine that infinitesimal is enactment successful beforehand of us. If individuals mean to origin an incidental which volition impact others adjacent them oregon astir them... past we instrumentality enactment to woody with it.

"Protesting tin instrumentality spot successful this country, but it's to the level of which you execute that protesting that we person to equilibrium and woody with."