Sir Iain described being followed by a group of chanting and drum-beating protesters on October 4, 2021 in Manchester, before a cone was “hit” on his head. The politician said he feared for his wife and friend when a cone was placed on his head and protesters hurled abuse at him during the 2021 Conservative Party Conference. Sir Iain was leaving a conference at the Midland Hotel and on his way to speak at the Mercure Hotel when he was attacked, repeatedly sworn at and called “Tory scum”, he told Manchester Magistrates’ Court. The court was shown CCTV footage which allegedly identified Elliot Bovill, 32, as the person who put the traffic cone on the MP’s head. Image: Elliot Bovill at Manchester Crown Court But the evidence was described as “weak” and “weak” by District Judge Paul Goldspring on Tuesday, who concluded there was no case to answer. Radical Haslam, 29, of Douglas Street, Salford, and Ruth Wood, 51, of Oak Tree Avenue, Cambridge, were co-accused on trial and both denied verbal abuse with intent to harass Sir Iain. Image: Radical Haslam at Manchester Crown Court Wood, who manages a project for a homeless charity, denied calling the group “c****”, saying it was “problematic terminology” she would not use and that she did not see who put the cone on Sir’s head Iain. Image: Ruth Wood at Manchester Crown Court When asked further about the cone, Wood said: “It seemed like a practical joke to me at the time. It was a surprise because I didn’t expect it. “There was nothing particularly threatening about what we were doing, in my mind “Not once did he turn around or try to tell us to stop. It just didn’t seem like they were concerned at all.” Radical Haslam said he witnessed the cone incident but also had “no idea” who was responsible. The judge ruled that the CCTV footage was of poor quality and affected by a glare, saying: “It seems to me that there are many difficulties with the identification that had been made.” Mr Goldspring continued: “In my view, the identity evidence is weak, it is flimsy and it is completely unsupported by other evidence.” Katrina Walcott, the barrister representing Mr Bovill, said she accepted the detective made the identification “in good faith” but his “honest belief” that the man in the video was Mr Bovill was not good enough. The judge awarded Bovill £37 in costs to cover travel expenses during the prosecution.
