New Fathers 4 Justice targets Witney (From Witney Gazette)

New Fathers 4 Justice targets Witney

4:20pm Tuesday 20th July 2010

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CAMPAIGNING fathers have vowed to “cause mayhem” in Witney if they are not allowed to demonstrate peacefully.

In a protest, dubbed ‘Witney’s Glastonbury Festival of Fatherhood’, New Fathers 4 Justice plan to camp on Wood Green, in Woodstock Road, this weekend.

The group believes more than 150 protesters from similar organisations across the country will flock to the town on Saturday evening, before leaving the camp on Sunday to protest outside Prime Minister David Cameron’s house, in Dean.

Witney Town Council has already said camping on the public green would be breaking the law.

Co-ordinator Nigel Ace — known as Captain Equality — said: “It was going to be quite low key, but the authorities are kicking up a bit of a fuss about us camping on the green.

“It would be totally peaceful and clean. We will supply our own toilets and food, and will only be there overnight. We have told the council that if they stop us from camping there, we will disperse all over the countryside, in David Cameron’s constituency, and cause mayhem.We will go on bridges, cause havoc on the roads. Anything to cause outrage we will do to get ourselves noticed.”

Mr Ace, 42, from Bristol, has written to Mr Cameron, whose constituency is Witney, through his MP Liam Fox, inviting him to discuss the matter of equal status for fathers. He said that if the Prime Minister did not meet the group, they would keep coming back.

He said: “We will come back again if he doesn’t meet us this weekend. We will be back again and again, and the Witney constituents will be fobbed off with us.

“He can come and join us at the campsite. We will give him a free sausage and a burger, and we can have a nice discussion together out in the open. We have written to Mr Cameron, and there has been no response. So the only response we can give is to give pressure by coming to Witney.”

Downing Street could not confirm where Mr Cameron would be at the weekend for security reasons.

Mr Ace, who has a seven-year-old daughter, added: “We want children to have a balanced upbringing. It’s for fathers’ 50/50 status that will stop the majority of cases going to court. We want to give dads equality.”

Campaigner Samantha Haynes, from Wootton, will be at the protest dressed as Wonder Woman. She said: “I feel that fathers should have equal opportunities and I am going through the same as the majority of fathers.”

Sharon Groth, Witney Town Council’s clerk, confirmed that the police would be called if Wood Green became a campsite. She said: “We haven’t had a formal request for New Fathers 4 Justice to use the land. We have bylaws on Wood Green, which state we don’t allow people to camp there.

“So if people did approach us, we wouldn’t be able to give them permission, as we won’t go against our bylaws.

“Wood Green is a residential area, with no toilet facilities. So it’s not really an ideal place to camp in.”

Chief Inspector Geoff Robinson, of Thames Valley Police, said the force would facilitate lawful and peaceful protest. He said: “We have had a New Fathers 4 Justice protest in Witney before, which passed without incident and with minimal disruption. The town council has been made aware of the protesters’ intention to camp on Wood Green, and we are expecting a small group of people to protest at the Prime Minister’s home nearby.

“New Fathers 4 Justice is a national campaign, rather than a local issue, and we have continued to encourage NF4J to address concerns through the House of Commons, rather than locally at Mr Cameron’s private residence.

“Mr Cameron’s representatives have been made aware of the plans, and our resourcing and response will be proportionate to maintain order and protect property.”

New Fathers 4 Justice was formed in September 2008, in the wake of Fathers 4 Justice disbanding.

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