TRESPASS ON PROTECTED SITES - GUIDANCE TO POLICE

SERIOUS ORGANISED CRIME AND POLICE ACT (SOCPA) 2005 SECTIONS 128-131

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This guidance note informs police officers of a new criminal offence of trespass on protected sites which comes into effect for sixteen Royal, governmental and parliamentary sites on 1 June 2007.

1.2 The trespass legislation makes provision for the application of the offence in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, in view of the fact that none of these sixteen sites are in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, this guidance is intended primarily for English police forces.

1.3 The creation of this offence was recommended in both the Armstrong Report of 30 July 2003 (into the intrusion at Windsor Castle on 21^st June 2003) and the Report of the Security Commission of May 2004 (following revelations of Ryan Parry's activities at Buckingham Palace late in 2003). Such an offence was viewed as being necessary both to create a deterrent to intrusions at high profile secure sites and to provide police officers with a specific power of arrest of a trespasser at such sites where no other apparent existing offence had been committed.

2. THE OFFENCE

2.1 The offence of criminal trespass on a protected site is created by sections 128 to 131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, as amended by section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2006. A protected site means either a licensed nuclear site or a designated site. This guidance is concerned primarily with designated sites.

2.2 In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the categories of sites that can be designated by a Secretary of State are:

* Crown land;

* land belonging to Her Majesty The Queen in her private capacity, or the immediate heir to the Throne in his private capacity;

* a site which it appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate to designate in the interests of national security; and

* all licensed nuclear sites.

2.3 In Scotland the powers under section 129 provide that sites can be designated only on the grounds of national security.

3. PROTECTED SITES

3.1 ROYAL, GOVERNMENTAL AND PARLIAMENTARY SITES

On 1 June 2007 an order designating sixteen royal, governmental and parliamentary sites as protected sites will come into force (The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007 No. 930)). A copy of the order can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/20070930.htm. The following sites will be designated as protected sites:

85 Albert Embankment, London;
Buckingham Palace, London;
Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall, London;
Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London;
St James's Palace, Cleveland Row, London;
Thames House, 11 and 12 Millbank, London;
The Chequers estate, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire;
10 - 12 Downing Street site as well as 70 Whitehall;
Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), Harp Hill, Cheltenham;
GCHQ, Hubble Road, Cheltenham;
GCHQ, Racecourse Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
GCHQ, Woodford, Bude, Cornwall;
Highgrove House, Doughton, Gloucestershire;
Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House site, London;
Sandringham House, Norfolk;
Windsor Castle, Berkshire.

On 4 May 2007 a further order was laid (S.I. 2007 No. 1387), which inserted an amended Chequers site map into Schedule 1 of S.I. 2007 No. 930. This order will also come into force on 1^st June 2007. A copy of the order can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/20071387.htm.

3.2 MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SITES AND LICENSED NUCLEAR SITES

There are, additionally, thirteen operational Ministry of Defence sites which were designated by order in 2005 (see Annex A). Licensed nuclear sites (see Annex B) became protected sites by virtue of section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2006, which amended sections 128-131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. This guidance is not intended to refer to these sites.

4. SITE BOUNDARIES

4.1 The offence applies to sixteen sites as they are defined in the designation order. Sites are defined either by their address and curtilage or by a map and description where they include substantial areas of land or have complex boundaries. The maps are at Schedules 1-10 of the order [below]. Police officers will need to ensure that they familiarise themselves fully with the boundaries within which the offence applies. For those sites not described by the use of a map, the Home Office will provide an explanation of the boundary to the relevant police force.

5. POWERS OF ARREST

5.1 For offences in England (and Wales), section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 (as amended by section 110 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005) applies. Home Office Circular 56/2005 refers. The legislation also contains powers of arrest in respect of offences in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

5.2 Section 24 (as amended) of PACE provides extensive grounds for arrest and provides sufficient powers in the majority of circumstances likely to be encountered at protected sites. There is no general offence of trespass. Officers will need to assess whether a person has entered or is on a protected site as a trespasser. This will be a question of fact in every case but the essential elements of trespass are that a person unlawfully enters on to land that is in the possession of another person; there is no need for any damage to occur.

5.3 Section 128 (7) provides that a person who is on any protected site as a trespasser does not cease to be a trespasser by virtue of being allowed time to leave the site.

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S CONSENT

5.4 Section 128 (6) provides that no proceedings for an offence may be instituted against any person in England (and Wales), except by or with the consent of the Attorney General.

6. PENALTY

6.1 The penalties attached to this offence in England (and Wales) under section 128(5) are that a person guilty of the offence is liable on summary conviction to (a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or (b) to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. The same penalties exist in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

7. DEFENCE

7.1 Section 128 (4) provides that a person charged with a trespass offence may use as a defence the fact that he did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the site to which the offence was alleged to have been committed was a protected site.

7.2 It is for the defendant to prove this defence. This is viewed as appropriate because in such a case the facts to be proved would be within the defendant's own knowledge.

8. RIGHT TO ROAM LEGISLATION

8.1 Section 131(1) disapplies right to roam provisions in England (and Wales) under section 2(1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37) to land in respect of which a designation order is in force.

8.2 Similar disapplications are also available in respect of designations in Northern Ireland and Scotland in the event of designations being made there.

9. SIGNAGE

9.1 Section 131(2) provides that the Secretary of State may take steps he considers appropriate to inform the public of the effect of the designation order, including displaying notices on or near the site to which the order relates. Under these powers Home Office officials have negotiated with site-owners the implementation of a number of measures, involving police representatives as appropriate. In the main, the measures will consist of signs on external boundaries and at entrances to sites.

9.2 There is a clear link between the powers of the Secretary of State in section 131(2) and the defence to the offence in section 128(4). The steps that the Secretary of State takes under section 131(2) will assist in ensuring that the defence is not available to persons knowingly trespassing on a protected site. Police officers therefore need to familiarise themselves fully with the measures implemented at sites to ensure, if considering arrest and further proceedings, whether they could satisfy the requirements of this offence.

9.3 Good practice when encountering a trespasser at such sites would be to warn the individual verbally that the site is a protected site under section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and that trespass on the site is a criminal offence. This would ensure that even if the individual could prove he or she met the defence in respect of original entry to the site, he or she could still be proceeded against if they did not subsequently leave the site following the warning.

10. POINTS OF CONTACT

10.1 Any questions or queries should be addressed to the Home Office on 0207 035 1975.

Annex A

PROTECTED MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SITES

HMNB Clyde
RNAD Coulport
Northwood Headquarters
RAF Flyingdales
RAF Menwith Hill
RAF Croughton
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Feltwell
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Brize Norton
SMC Marchwood
RAF Fairford
RAF Welford

Annex B

LICENCED NUCLEAR SITES (Register of licensed nuclear facilities.]

Civil Sites

Sellafield, Cumbria,
Dounreay, Scotland,
Capenhurst, near Chester,
Drigg, near Sellafield,
Harwell, near Oxford,
Springfields, near Preston,
Windscale, within Sellafield,
Winfrith, near Wool in Dorset,
GE Healthcare sites in Amersham and Cardiff,
London University's Imperial College of Science and Technology site in Ascot, Berkshire,
Berkeley, near Bristol,
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at Birniehill, East Kilbride,
and the following nuclear power station sites:
Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire,
Dungeness A and B, Kent,
Hartlepool, near Middlesborough
Heysham 1 and 2, Lancashire,
Hinkley Point A and B, Somerset,
Hunterston A and B, Ayrshire,
Oldbury, near Bristol,
Sizewell A and B, Suffolk,
Torness, East Lothian,
Bradwell, Essex,
Calder Hall, within Sellafield,
Wylfa, on Anglesey,
Trawsfynydd, Dolgellau, Wales.

Defence Sites

Atomic Weapons Establishments sites near Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire,
Devonshire Dock Complex, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria,
Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth,
Rolls Royce Neptune site and Nuclear Fuel Production Plant in Derby
Rosyth Dockyard, Fife.

2007 No. 930

CRIMINAL LAW, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007

Made: 20th March 2007
Laid before Parliament: 23rd March 2007
Coming into force: 1st June 2007

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 128(2) of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, makes the following Order:

1.(1) This Order may be cited as the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 1st June 2007.

(2) This Order extends to England and Wales only.

2. (1) The following sites are designated for the purposes of section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

(a) 85 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TP and its curtilage;
(b) Buckingham Palace, the Mall, London, SW1A 1AA and its curtilage, including the buildings within that curtilage;
(c) the Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2HB, subject to the following:

(i) the site also includes the wall and vehicle ramps on the west side of the building adjoining Whitehall Gardens and Raleigh Green;
(ii) the site does not include the steps, ramps and porticos that give access to the inside of the building;

(d) the Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EU but the site does not include the steps that give access to the inside of the building;
(e) St James's Palace, Cleveland Row, London, SW1A 1BA and its curtilage, including the buildings within that curtilage and in particular Clarence House, but not the pavement on Marlborough Road to which the public has access;
(f) Thames House, 11 and 12 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QE but the site does not include the steps that give access to the inside of the building; and
(g) the sites described in paragraphs (2) to (11).

(2) So much of the site of the Chequers Estate, Butlers Cross, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP17 0UZ as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 1 (the Chequers site).

(3) So much of the site including 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 2 (the Downing Street site).

(4) So much of the site of Government Communications Headquarters, Harp Hill, Cheltenham, GL52 5AU as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 3 (the GCHQ Harp Hill site).

(5) So much of the site of Government Communications Headquarters, Hubble Road, Cheltenham, GL51 0EX as is within the dotted lines that are marked on the map in Schedule 4 (the GCHQ Hubble Road site).

(6) So much of the site of Government Communications Headquarters, Racecourse Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO12 5TQ as is within the dotted lines that are marked on the map in Schedule 5 (the GCHQ Scarborough site).

(7) So much of the site of Government Communications Headquarters, Woodford, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 9JJ as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 6 (the GCHQ Bude site).

(8) So much of the site including Highgrove House, Doughton, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8TN as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 7 (the Highgrove House site).

(9) So much of the site including the Palace of Westminster, London, SW1A as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 8 (the Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House site) subject to the following:

(a) the dotted line that runs across Bridge Street only includes within the site the underground link that runs underneath Bridge Street;
(b) the site does not include the following:

(i) Westminster London Underground Station and the entrance to that station, and
(ii) any commercial premises, which fall within the dotted line, to which the public has unrestricted access.

(10) So much of the site including Sandringham House, Norfolk, PE35 6EN as is within the dotted line that is marked on the map in Schedule 9 (the Sandringham House site).

(11) So much of the site including Windsor Castle, Berkshire, SL4 1NJ as is within the dotted line that is marked on the maps in Schedule 10 (the Windsor Castle site).

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Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order designates certain sites for the purposes of section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. If a person enters on the sites designated in this Order as a trespasser he will commit an offence under section 128(1) of that Act. Article 2(1) designates 16 sites for the purposes of section 128. Ten of the sites have been designated by way of a description and map. These sites are listed in article 2(2) to (11). The maps appear in Schedules 1 to 10 to the Order.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/licensees/pubregister.pdf

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