Forty-eight of 50 people detained at the rally, during which four police officers and six horses were injured, are bailed

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Forty-eight people arrested in connection with violent clashes during the Million Mask march in London on Thursday have been released on police bail.

Aged between 16 and 55, they were among 50 people detained during the march, in which four officers and six police horses were injured.



Three of those arrested declined to give their names to officers. They were detained for almost 48 hours before being brought before Westminster magistrates accused of refusing to reveal their names to a constable.

The three men were released on unconditional bail and ordered to attend court in March, even though the authorities do not know their identities, the Telegraph reported.

What started off as a peaceful protest descended into violence when activists clashed with officers. A police car was set alight and its windscreen was smashed near Green Park as thousands of anti-capitalist campaigners flowed past the capital’s landmarks wearing the trademark Guido masks of the Anonymous hacking group.

Those bailed include three men whom police stopped in Trafalgar Square at about 2.25pm. Officers searching them discovered a range of items including knives, smoke and paint grenades, gas canisters and lock picks.

The men, aged 38, 50 and 55, were arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons. They were taken to a central London police station and subsequently bailed to return in January.

Mark Edwards, 50, of Thornton Heath in Croydon, south London, has been charged with assaulting a police officer and possession of a class B drug. He will appear on bail at Westminster magistrates court on 7 December.

A 19-year-old has man accepted a police caution for assaulting police.

There were ugly scenes outside Buckingham Palace as protesters threw traffic cones, fireworks and bottles at mounted police officers, and there were pockets of vandalism in parts of Westminster and Soho.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, described those that had thrown fireworks and missiles at officers and their horses as despicable.

He said he believed protesters had deliberately targeted the horses, which were deployed in The Mall, Great George Street, Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square.

Embassy, one of the force’s oldest horses, sustained injuries to his side, rear fetlock and front leg. He bolted after a firework was thrown and his rider was taken to hospital with a broken wrist.

PC Claire Rees said her horse, Quixote, who suffered injuries to his front legs in the Mall, had been very brave.

The other horses injured were Illustrious, who it is believed suffered an eye injury from a stick; Quartz, whose hind leg was believed to have been cut by glass; Qwerty, who sustained an injury to his hind quarters; and Heather, who sustained a cut to the fetlock on her hind leg.