76-Year-Old Charged for Face Covering at Portsmouth Protest

A photograph circulating from Saturday’s anti-immigration demonstration in Portsmouth shows an elderly man in handcuffs, black scarves tied across his face and head, surrounded by officers. That man, Timothy Justin Miller, 76, of Sherwood Avenue, Hedge End, Southampton, has since been formally charged by Hampshire Police with wearing an item to conceal identity at a protest — an offence invoked just one day after the force publicly announced it would exercise powers permitting officers to arrest anyone wearing face coverings at demonstrations.

The speed of the charge raises questions about the proportionality of enforcement. Miller is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Whether the prosecution will succeed — and what it would mean for the lawful use of face coverings at public assemblies — remains to be seen.

Arrests and charges from the weekend demonstrations

Miller was not the only person detained. Hampshire Police confirmed that a total of two men and a teenage boy were arrested at Saturday’s protests. David Kenny McNally, 33, of Winchester Road, Portsmouth, has been charged with wilful obstruction of a highway and attempted criminal damage; he is scheduled to appear at the same court on Thursday. A 16-year-old boy from Waterlooville, arrested on suspicion of violent disorder in connection with a separate protest at Eastney Marina on September 6, has been bailed until December 12.

The charges emerge from a broader pattern of anti-immigration demonstrations that have swept through several English coastal towns in recent weeks, targeting sites associated with small boat crossings and the humanitarian organisations that respond to them.

RNLI volunteers caught in the crossfire

Among the most documented consequences of this protest wave is the sustained harassment of Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers and staff. Charity workers have been targeted while bringing migrants ashore during demonstrations in Dover and Portsmouth, with footage posted to social media this week showing volunteers labelled as “traitors” after guiding a dinghy to safety in Portsmouth harbour.

Protests have been staged directly at RNLI sites. On Wednesday, a gathering took place at the RNLI College in Poole, Dorset, part of a pattern of intimidation that has forced the charity to issue internal guidance telling volunteers they are “empowered to make decisions to keep yourself, your team or crew safe” and may “go home or close for the day” if necessary, according to reporting by the BBC.

The RNLI has since warned its personnel not to wear the charity’s branding in public, citing what it describes as “unacceptable abuse” from anti-migrant protesters. The organisation’s chief executive, Peter Sparkes, has stated that the harassment is “wholly unacceptable in a civilised society” and attributed much of it to “deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI — our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel.”

The broader accountability gap

The RNLI operates under a clear mandate: saving lives at sea, regardless of the nationality or legal status of those in distress. That obligation is grounded in international maritime law, which imposes a duty of rescue on all seafarers. Volunteers acting within that framework now find themselves compelled to conceal the insignia of their organisation to avoid physical intimidation — a situation that reflects a measurable failure of public order protection.

Meanwhile, a 76-year-old man faces a magistrates’ court for covering his face at a demonstration. The contrast between the vigour of enforcement in that instance and the slower, more diffuse response to the organised harassment of humanitarian workers is one that courts, civil society organisations, and the public will likely scrutinise in the weeks ahead.