Joseph Olswang accused of chasing Nick Watt near Whitehall
Nick Watt (left) being chased by anti-lockdown protestors. Picture: Resistance GB/YouTube
A 38-year-old man from Sheen has been charged in connection with an incident in which a BBC reporter was chased and harassed.
Joseph Olswang, of Upper Richmond Road West, who owns a children’s clothes brand and promotes music to radio stations, was arrested and charged with common assault contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
The charge relates to an incident on 14 June which was widely distributed on social media which showed a group of people at an anti-lockdown protest abusing and manhandling Nick Watt in the vicinity of Richmond Terrace and Whitehall. A mob crowded around Mr Watt calling him a traitor and accusing him of spreading lies on behalf of the ‘mainstream media’.
Mr Olswang, who attended Latymer School, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, 15 July.
Prior to this arrest, two men were charged with an offence contrary to section 4a of the Public Order Act. Martin Hockridge, 57 of Eastmoor Park, Harpenden appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 29 June and will next appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday, 8 November. Christopher Aitken, 62 Kellett Road, Brixton, SW2 will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, 22 July.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
July 2, 2021