The Argus - News, Sport, Brighton and Hove Albion and Entertainment for Brighton, Hove and Sussex

Fathers' rights protester cleared

From the The Argus, first published Thursday 2nd Nov 2006.

A fathers' rights protester notorious for his impersonations of Spiderman has been cleared of harassment.

David Chick, 39, of The Ridgeway, Burgess Hill, cleared his name on appeal after being convicted of harassing a woman and three boys, aged 11 to 13, in 2004.

Mr Chick, who has carried out a number of high-profile stunts to promote the rights of fathers in child access disputes, said he was relieved the case was over but angry it had ever gone to court.

He said it had been brought because of political reasons and had been a "complete waste of taxpayers' money".

Mr Chick spent six days at the top of a crane near London's Tower Bridge in 2003 to protest at being denied access to his daughter.

He was prosecuted by the Metropolitan Police for causing a public nuisance but cleared by jury at Southwark Crown Court in 2004.

He spent 18 hours on the London Eye in 2004, forcing it to be closed to the public, and was again cleared of causing a public nuisance.

He said: "I should never have been charged with causing a public nuisance in the first place because the London Eye is a private tourist attraction - it is not public property."

He said he should not have faced charges either for the Tower Bridge protest because the ensuing traffic chaos was caused by police.

Mr Chick said: "All I have been trying to do is get the relationship with my daughter I always should have had and which I now do have."

He is suing the Met over the prosecutions and intends to sue Sussex Police for malicious prosecution regarding the harassment case, which he won at Hove Crown Court on Tuesday.

Mr Chick said: "When I was charged there were bail conditions imposed to stop me entering the city of Brighton and Hove.

"The only reason it was made was because the police were worried I might stage a protest at the Labour Party Conference of 2004."

Mr Chick said he never planned to carry out a protest at the conference.

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