Ex-student acquitted of violent disorder

Thursday, 14 March 2013

Acquitted: Alfie Meadows

By Mary McConnell

A FORMER Middlesex University undergraduate charged with violent disorder at a student protest was acquitted on Friday.

Alfie Meadows, 22, a former student at the university’s Trent Park campus, stood accused of violent disorder more than two years after he underwent lifesaving surgery after being struck on the head during the protest in December 2010.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court unanimously found Mr Meadows not guilty. It was the third time he had stood trial for the offence.

A retrial was held at the highsecurity court after a previous jury failed to reach a verdict in April last year. A second trial was abandoned in November after the judge and lawyers were taken ill.

Mr Meadows, of Brixton, south London, was charged with violent disorder in April 2011 following the protests over tuition fees.

He was among a group of students opposing the closure of Middlesex University’s philosophy department as well as an increase in tuition fees.

His mother Susan Matthews said: “Alfie had to wait more than two years and go through the ordeal of three trials to clear his name. The trial has taken a heavy toll on our family.”

At a press conference on Monday, Mr Meadows called on the Independent Police Complaints Commission to reopen the investigation into allegations that he had been hit with a police truncheon, causing serious head injuries.

An earlier IPCC investigation was put on hold in 2011 after he had been charged.

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