Corporate state overreach: 'criminal damage' case for protest sticker thrown out

[muriel_volestrangler]

Lisa McKenzie had been accused of helping fix sticker to window of apartment block with separate doors for private and social-housing tenants

A protester tried under joint enterprise for causing criminal damage, after a sticker was fixed on the window of an upmarket block of London flats during a demonstration against “poor doors”, has been found not guilty.
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“The police were asked how they knew it was me and how they knew my name, and they said that I had been profiled in the meetings earlier, and the judge said he was very, very uncomfortable with how I had been profiled.”
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“They said it caused £50 worth of criminal damage because the window had to be cleaned,” McKenzie said. “My counsel argued that there was no damage at all. The £50 of damage was not actually done because the builders next door had pulled the sticker off.”
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Under the doctrine of joint enterprise, a person may be found guilty for another person’s crime if it is judged that each shared a common purpose. It is more commonly used in serious cases involving gangs, violence and murder. However, its use is controversial and there are a number of cases where it is claimed that application of the doctrine has resulted in miscarriages of justice.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/21/class-war-protestor-poor-doors-not-guilty

The whole thing stinks of unjustified surveillance, 'guilt' by association, and an attempt to discourage any form of protest against commercial interests with petty charges designed to put off activists.