Piers Corbyn to face trial for protesting over lockdown restrictions

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world

Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

Piers Corbyn will invoke his human rights when he is tried in October for breaching coronavirus rules during anti-lockdown protests last month, a London court has heard.

Mr Corbyn, 73, who is the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, denied two counts of breaking the Health Protection Regulations by attending protests in London’s Hyde Park on 16 and 30 May.

The regulations made it an offence at the time to gather in a group of more than two people in public.

In a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Corbyn admitted that he attended the mass gatherings but defended his actions, citing freedom of expression and his right to protest.

His trial is scheduled to begin on 23 October.

Richard Parry, his defence lawyer, alleged that there were discrepancies in the Metropolitan Police’s handling of different demonstrations and in the actions the force took against protesters at separate events.

Mr Parry, who called his client a peaceful protester, said: "He's clearly a man with a sign and a megaphone, and perhaps a few leaflets to give out."

Misha Majid, the prosecutor in the case, said that Mr Corbyn had also been given a fixed penalty notice for allegedly attending another protest event on 9 May.

During the 25-minute hearing, Mr Corbyn, wearing a black suit and claret tie, sat with a newspaper under his arm and took notes.

After being released on unconditional bail, he posed for photographs outside the court with a group of his supporters.

Additional reporting from PA