Dan's bid to show the law is an ass

10:25am Thursday 8th May 2008

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GOING out and getting arrested, on purpose, is probably to last thing that goes through the majority of people's mind when they shut their front door behind them in the morning.

But that is exactly what Dan Kieran attempted to do, when he tried to highlight some of the ridiculous laws that are on the statute books in Britain.

Did you see Dan Kieran yesterday?

If so tell us what you think below

Ignoring the more surreal laws like it is illegal to go within 100m of the Queen if you have no socks on and the fact you can shoot a Welshman in the head with a bow and arrow in Chester after midnight, before the clock strikes and you're in trouble, Dan focused on the acts brought in by the current government for his book I Fought The Law.

In his failed bid to be hauled off in the back of a cop car, Dan (who admitted he was terrified at the prospect of being handcuffed) waved banners around in Parliament Square, organised a cricket match on St George's Day and even dressed up as a giant teddy bear for a teddy bear's picnic.

He described to the attentive audience how disturbing it was that these laws have been brought in to, in his mind and according to Hansard transcripts, deal with just a few individuals who are basically giving the government a bit of a headache.

The Serious Organised Crime Police Act makes it illegal to protest with 1km of Parliament and all offences were arrestable. So if you're having a bit of a heated debate on the Jubilee line, or shouting at some rubbish from the top of the London Eye, you could be in trouble.

Banners are problematic - but only if they say things like freedomif you're advertising McDonald's that is absolutely fine.

For the entire hour the Arts Centre was glued to his every word, gasping in shock at some of the things he revealed about our country and laughing at the complete randomness of others. It was 60 minutes well spent and there was an audible sigh of relief when it was revealed the protest section of the act had been repealed recently.