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Following the thread in the Shore Fishing forum, I have done a little bit of digging around on the law regarding trespass and it appears that English Common Law states:
TRESPASS - As applied to a piece of land open to the public which is not common land or a public right of way. This is also one area where the laws of England and Scotland are significantly different. If you enter land against the wishes of the landowner, or if you stray outside an area to which you are allowed access, or if you use land in a way which you are not authorised to do so, you become a trespasser. Ignorance of that fact is no defence under this law. Any person can enter a public park, because the landowners permit it.However,this does not make a permanent right of access and therefore it is within the power of the landowner to ask any person to leave. The landowner does not have to give a reason.If the person does not go, as quickly as possible,by the shortest obvious route, they are trespassing. Despite the well known sign \"trespassers will be prosecuted\", trespass is not a criminal offence and trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted. They can,however be sued.There is little chance of such a matter ever being so serious as to be worth suing over and this rarely happens.People in a park will often protest that it is public land. This does not mean that they have a right to be there at all times, they do not.If the place closes at a certain time and someone is present after that time,they can then be considered to be trespassing.If a visitor misbehaves at any time and refuses to leave when asked to do so by someone with a right to do so,then the visitor becomes a trespasser because they no longer have the landowners permission to be there even if they entered lagally. It is not normally possible to be a trespasser whilst ligitimately on a right of way.However, if the user is not using the right of way as a route to get from one place to another, but using it for some other reason, such as to interfere with the landowner, they can be considered to be a trespasser.A real example of this concerned a hunt saboteur who was deemed by a court to be a trespasser for shouting and waving flags whilst on a footpath on a grouse moor.The important distinction was the purpose for which the person was there.
Although the law on trespass appears to be the same as when I took my Security Industry exams, there may possibly have been changes to the law as Mark quite rightly pointed out. The passage I have quoted above is from the last edition of a Security Training manual.
cheers.
george.
TRESPASS - As applied to a piece of land open to the public which is not common land or a public right of way. This is also one area where the laws of England and Scotland are significantly different. If you enter land against the wishes of the landowner, or if you stray outside an area to which you are allowed access, or if you use land in a way which you are not authorised to do so, you become a trespasser. Ignorance of that fact is no defence under this law. Any person can enter a public park, because the landowners permit it.However,this does not make a permanent right of access and therefore it is within the power of the landowner to ask any person to leave. The landowner does not have to give a reason.If the person does not go, as quickly as possible,by the shortest obvious route, they are trespassing. Despite the well known sign \"trespassers will be prosecuted\", trespass is not a criminal offence and trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted. They can,however be sued.There is little chance of such a matter ever being so serious as to be worth suing over and this rarely happens.People in a park will often protest that it is public land. This does not mean that they have a right to be there at all times, they do not.If the place closes at a certain time and someone is present after that time,they can then be considered to be trespassing.If a visitor misbehaves at any time and refuses to leave when asked to do so by someone with a right to do so,then the visitor becomes a trespasser because they no longer have the landowners permission to be there even if they entered lagally. It is not normally possible to be a trespasser whilst ligitimately on a right of way.However, if the user is not using the right of way as a route to get from one place to another, but using it for some other reason, such as to interfere with the landowner, they can be considered to be a trespasser.A real example of this concerned a hunt saboteur who was deemed by a court to be a trespasser for shouting and waving flags whilst on a footpath on a grouse moor.The important distinction was the purpose for which the person was there.
Although the law on trespass appears to be the same as when I took my Security Industry exams, there may possibly have been changes to the law as Mark quite rightly pointed out. The passage I have quoted above is from the last edition of a Security Training manual.
cheers.
george.