A CIRENCESTER animal welfare campaigner has walked free from court in Oxfordshire after a judge condemned the police for unlawfully stopping a protest at Oxford University.

Michael Haines, 59, of North Home Road, was one of 14 protesters from animal rights group Speak cleared of refusing police orders to break up the demonstration against the university's animal research laboratory last July.

During the trial, comments made by police officers and caught on tape were heard in which they made derogatory remarks about the protestors, spoke of their eagerness to prosecute them and claimed the university was 'powerful'.

The comments, caught on a dictaphone accidentally switched on inside an officer's pocket, led to Speak accusing the force and university of colluding to stifle their right to protest.

During last summer's protest, demonstrators refused to move from outside the theatre after being askedto by police and instead sat down.

Mr Haines, who walked free from Bicester Magistrates' Court last Wednesday, said: "It was fantastic. They cleared all of us. I was ecstatic when I walked out.

"We always campaign legally. I can't imagine why they should condemn us for telling the truth."

District judge Deborah Wright said at the end of the trial: "Whoever was responsible for making the decision that this prosecution should proceed in light of the tape may well have made a serious error of judgement."

Mr Haines, a trustee and rescuer for Cotswold Animal and Bird Rescue in Cirencester, believes the police were heavy handed in the case and keen to label the protesters as troublemakers.

He said: "We all have a right to have free speech in this country and they are trying to stop it now.

"All these laws they are trying to tighten up on - in the end we will not be able to protest against anything. They are just trying to shut everybody up. The Government can get away with anything they want to."

Thames Valley police deputy chief constable Alex Marshall said: "There are comments on the tape I find very regrettable and I find some of the comments unprofessional.

"I will take careful note of what the judge has said and see if there are any matters which arise from that."