G20 bra girl charged for posing as a police officer

Juliet Bra-vo: Leah Borromeo, left, was arrested. Her friend in the stockings was not
Peter Dominiczak12 April 2012

Eleven G20 campaigners are being prosecuted for impersonating police officers despite some being half-dressed and wielding toy machineguns.

The protesters, who call themselves the Space Hijackers, claim today it was obvious they were taking part in an April Fool's Day joke as world leaders met in London on 1 April.

They were arrested as they drove an armoured personnel carrier through the City while playing Wagner's Ride Of The Valkyries over a loudspeaker.

Leah Borromeo, 30, a freelance journalist who was wearing a riot helmet and boiler suit rolled down to the waist to reveal a black bra, said: "If I'm guilty of anything it's of impersonating a stripper, not a police officer. Our lawyers never thought anyone would be charged because it is so ridiculous. It is a farcical case."

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer decided they must face a four-day trial despite critics describing the charges as "a terrible abuse of power".

The offence carries a maximum sentence of three months and the case has reportedly already cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds.

Experts have called for the case to be withdrawn. The Met was heavily criticised over its handling of the protests. Apart from the Space Hijackers case, the police and Crown Prosecution Service have proceeded with only a handful of charges of violent disorder and criminal damage.

A lead member of the Space Hijackers, who did not want to be named, said: "It was a parody and a spoof. This case is a complete overreaction. We think this case is a complete waste of taxpayers' money.


Ready to roll: the Space Hijackers prepare for G20 demonstrations in April

"We did everything entirely lawfully and there was nothing sinister about any of it. It is a very serious charge.

"The charge exists to stop people dressing up as police officers and robbing old women, it's not for people legitimately protesting."

Critical to the case will be evidence that none of the dozens of witnesses being brought by the defendants believed they were police officers.

Raj Chada, their lawyer, said the prosecution needed to prove the 11 intended to deceive others into believing they were police.

He said: "Far from pretending to be police officers they were protesting in a way that was both peaceful and designed to be entertaining. The protests were on April Fool's Day and this prosecution is like an April Fool's joke." A Met Police spokesman said: "We can not comment as a legal case is pending."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in