Serenade protest tested in top court

A Greymouth man yesterday asked the Supreme Court to uphold his right to protest after being arrested playing the guitar outside a local police officer's house.

Allistair Patrick Brooker, 37, who was protesting against search warrants issued by Greymouth police, was arrested outside Constable Fiona Croft's home on March 18, 2003, and charged with disorderly behaviour.

His protest - which lasted 15 minutes - involved him singing a song he had composed about police and a placard which read "Stop the Bogus Warrants".

Brooker was convicted in Greymouth District Court and fined $300. He appealed the conviction to the High Court, and then to the Court of Appeal.

Yesterday he took his case to New Zealand's highest court, where he represented himself - only the second person to do so in the Supreme Court.

"The previous courts sought to distance my actions from the Bill of Rights, which protects the freedom of speech and protest action," he told the five-judge bench.

Raised by his parents to believe in the right to protest, Brooker said he was a 10-year-old at the Bastion Point demonstration and had participated in anti-nuclear protests in Auckland.

The location of the Greymouth protest had been a determining factor in the courts finding him guilty because it was outside the bounds of acceptable protest action. But a protest outside a known paedophile's house at Blackball in May did not result in any arrests, he said.

Brooker did not personally attack the constable in his song and he could not be said to have harassed her as he later protested outside the local police station.

"My comments reflected her performance as a police officer and the trouble I've had with police in Greymouth."

Ms Croft was the only person offended by the protest and the only person who complained, Brooker said.

Justice Andrew Tipping said although the song "wasn't a lullaby", it was a protest against the officer's conduct. "That is a factor in the case."

Crown lawyer Terrence Arnold, QC, said Brooker felt he had been harassed by Greymouth police whom he believed were corrupt.

"He wanted to say so publicly."

Under common law, "a man's house is his castle" and the constable had the right not to be forced to listen to unwanted speech in her home.

But Justice Thomas said the point of protest was to make people listen to what they did not want to hear.

Mr Arnold said Brooker was not arrested because he was protesting, but because he disturbed the neighbourhood. "He infringed on the constable's right to be left alone to enjoy the tranquillity of her home."

While one police officer at the scene described Brooker's singing as louder than talking but quieter than shouting, another said Brooker had yelled: "You shouldn't have signed the warrant, Fiona."

The Supreme Court reserved its decision.

- NZPA