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12th Jan 2019

Yellow vest protester James Goddard arrested in Westminster

James Dawson

His supporters claim he was going to hand himself in to police

An organiser of the so-called ‘Yellow Vest’ protests outside Parliament, James Goddard, has been arrested by police on suspicion of a public order offence.

Police confirmed that a man in his thirties was arrested just before midday on Saturday outside St James Park tube station on suspicion of a public order offence committed on 7 January.

His supporters claim he was on his way to hand himself over to authorities at Holborn police station when he was detained, according to BBC journalist Daniel Sandford.

A police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a man in his 30s was arrested at 11.42hrs on Saturday 12 January outside St James Park tube station on suspicion of a public order offence. He is currently in police custody and is being taken to a central London police station.”

The arrest follows police confirming on Tuesday that they were looking into the pro-Brexit protests to confirm whether any criminality had taken place, a Scotland Yard spokesperson said they would deal “robustly” with any harassment or abuse that “constituted a criminal offence”.