Students Frank Harris and Sarah Crane-Brewer face £40k bill for University College London protest

Published: 9th December, 2010
by TOM FOOT

TWO students who volunteered to represent an occupation of University College London in court could be hit by a “massive” legal bill if the protest does not disband “peacefully”.

Sarah Crane-Brewer, 19, and Frank Harris, 19, are facing a £40,000 payout in legal costs to UCL. 

It follows a human rights legal challenge to UCL’s application for a possession order in the London County Court yesterday (Wednesday).

In a joint statement to the New Journal last night, they said: “We are deeply distressed at the prospect of owing such a huge amount of money to the university. 

“Our education is funded by student loans and we face leaving with substantial amounts of debt.”

They said the had “no option” but to appear in court and defend the occupation following “allegations” of criminal damage and health and safety breaches.

UCL was yesterday given a deadline of December 23 to apply for costs but the university’s barrister, Daniel Margolin, told the court his client would not pursue costs if the occupation “ended peacefully”.

The possession order comes into effect at 10am – the day of the crunch vote on student fees in the House of Commons – and students will be required to leave then.

But the judge’s ruling means the occupation could legally move to other university buildings.

UCL applied for a possession order – required by landlords to evict problem tenants or trespassers – for the entire Gower Street campus fearing the protesters would seize control of its other prestigious buildings. 

But, in what students’ lawyers said was a significant victory, county court judge Her Honour Justice Faber ruled that the order should only cover the Jeremy Bentham Room and a section of the Slade School of Art.

Mr Margolin had argued that only in extreme circumstances should the Human Rights Act be allowed to “trump the proprietorial rights” of landowners.

But Justice Faber said: “The claimant is not right that exceptionality is the test.”

Mr Margolin had read to the court messages posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter  calling for students to bring padlocks and chains when they wrongly believed the bailiffs were being sent in to evict them. Mr Margolin said it all came to nothing when the eviction bid did not materialise.

He argued the protest was “more about publicity than exercising the right of free speech” and the students had “other ways to communicate their views”, “pressuring” the university.

In her witness statement, Ms Crane-Brewer said that the Jeremy Bentham Room location was crucial to raising publicity for their campaign and maintained it had been peaceful throughout.

The students’ barrister Liz Davies told the court on Tuesday: “There is a proud history of student occupation. It has been around for at least 40 years. Students are not in a position to withdraw their labour. 

“An occupation is the equivalent of workers taking strike action. It is the most extreme form of lawful protest a student can take.”

She added: “There is an obligation to protect freedom of speech, but there is a specific obligation at a university.”

The occupation has demanded UCL provost Malcolm Grant publicly oppose the Government’s cuts to higher education before the crunch vote in the House of Commons today. 

It is also calling for staff to be paid the London Living Wage.

The two-week, 24-hour protest has won support from lecturers, politicians and was last night inspiring peaceful demonstrations in secondary schools across Camden. 

A UCL spokesman said: “I’d say we went for the order because there was no sense of when this might end, and while we hope to end it through negotiation, we would wish to have the legal route open to us if there were no alternative.”