The High Down 11

Convicts who barricaded theselves into a single cell in protest at the MoJ's "New Ways of Working" in prisons (involving longer periods confined to cells, only one hot meal a day, and other joys) have been acquitted of prison mutiny by a jury at Blackfriars Crown Court after a three-week trial.Section 1 of the Prison Security Act (1992) states that an offence is committed “when two or more prisoners, on the premises of any prison, engage in conduct which is intended to further a common purpose of overthrowing lawful authority in that prison. The offence is aimed at behaviour intended to make a prison, or part of prison, ungovernable.”The jury in this case, having heard evidence about the new harsher regimes in prisons, were not minded to convict. Did they see this behaviour as a legitmate protest rather than intended to "make a prison... ungovernable"? There's a good account of the case here (although some of the language may need to be redacted for teaching purposes!), which seems like a great example of jury equity in action.