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'A duty to intervene' The former lawyer arrested under the Terrorism Act
The Guardian
|August 09, 2025
Handcuffed and being hauled into the back of a police van, Tim Crosland still managed to crack a smile after being arrested under the Terrorism Act last month.
"The mother of all democracies, people," the former government lawyer can be seen saying in now viral footage after he was one of 27 people arrested at the Gandhi statue in Parliament Square in London for allegedly showing support for a proscribed organisation, Palestine Action.
Five weeks later, Crosland, 55, is once again at the centre of the action before what is expected to be a return to the square on Saturday by hundreds of people risking arrest under anti-terrorism laws. Defend Our Juries, of which he is a co-founder, has asked them to hold up signs saying: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
The moment is also a milestone in a personal "gamekeeper turned poacher" journey that has taken him from being a barrister holding senior positions at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), to being an activist using protest to challenge the will of the state.
This story is from the August 09, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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