Steve Acheson Picket At Fiddlers Ferry - Unite wins case

Unite member Steve Acheson has won his right to continue his protest outside Fiddlers' Ferry power station near Warrington.

Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) failed in its application for an interim injunction against Steveat the Royal Courts of Justice on 21st October.

Scottish and Southern Electricity had been seeking Steve's removal from outside the site where he has been protesting against his dismissal by site contractors and against blacklisting for over nine months.

The judge dismissed the application and ordered SSE to pay Steve's costs.

The judge said that the application came some nine months after Steve Acheson had begun his protest and that their appeared little urgency on the part of SSE to act against him

The judge said that the application was 'fanciful' and 'almost paranoid' and noted that Steve's occupation meant that he was alive to the dangers posed by power stations.

In written submissions to the court SSE indicated that they had concerns about climate protesters and Steve seeking to disrupt the operation of the power station and interrupt the supply of power to the national grid.

Unite assistant general secretary, Les Bayliss, said: "Scottish and Southern tried to cook up a fictional story to prevent a Unite member from holding a peaceful protest against blacklisting in construction outside Fiddler's Ferry power station.

This was a blatant attack on the rights we hold dear in a democratic society and we are pleased that the judge saw right through Scottish and Southern's bogus arguments."