Student arrested for holding 'f***ing w****rs' banner has charges dropped

Adam Barr said the arrest breached his freedom of speech

Another group of students staging a protest march (file photo) (Getty)

A student arrested for holding an “offensive” banner has had the charges against him dropped.

Adam Barr, 24, was arrested for holding the sign, which bore pictures of David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, and Nigel Farage.

Under the pictures, the words “All F***ing W****rs” were written.

Mr Barr, who studies at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), was detained in April at a London protest against so-called “poor doors” in housing developments.

The Crown Prosecution Service however said last week it would no longer pursue the case due to a lack of evidence.

The Guardian newspaper reports that Tower Hamlets police, who originally made the arrest, had accidentally destroyed the banner.

“I’m relieved the case has been discontinued,” Mr Barr told the newspaper.

“It’s amazing it got so far without someone at the CPS realising it breached my freedom of speech.”

The student was arrested under section five of the Public Order Act, which applies to people causing harassment, alarm, or distress in public.

The maximum fine for such an offence is currently £1,000.

Mr Barr’s lawyer Simon Natas, of the law firm ITN Solicitors, said: “Freedom of speech is the lifeblood of democracy and is protected by the law, even when some might find the language used offensive.

“My client should not have been arrested for exercising his right to free speech and he should certainly never have been prosecuted.”