Police charge man over mob’s chase of BBC journalist through London at anti-lockdown demo

One man has been charged after a BBC journalist was chased through central London during a protest against the government prolonging England’s Covid-19 restrictions, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Martin Hockridge, 57, from Harpenden, north of London has been charged under the Public Order Act, the Met said in a statement on Wednesday.

In footage of the incident on Monday, a number of protesters can be seen heckling and chasing BBC Newsnight’s political editor Nicholas Watt near Downing Street.

Police claim Hockridge was among the group who pursued the journalist, and that he used “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards another person with the intention to cause them harassment, alarm or distress.” He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 29.

The charge comes after a police investigation into the incident was launched and the Met called on the public to help them identify possible offenders from footage of the protest.

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