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A New Fathers 4 Justice campaigner, who climbed onto the roof of Chris Grayling's house in Ashtead over the summer, was part of a group of men who chained themselves to a statue in Birmingham on Thursday (December 18).

Martin Matthews, from Great Bookham, joined the protest at the 'Real Birmingham Family' statue, about the lack of access the campaigners say they have been given to their children.

One demonstrator, James Dennis, 45, said he had not seen his three children for four years.

He said: “There are five of us. We are protesting because we are not seeing our kids over Christmas because of the gender bias in the courts.

“We have chosen that statue because it is wrong.

"It’s called the Real Birmingham Family but it's biased against fathers because it hasn’t got fathers. The courts are kicking fathers out of children’s lives."

The statue by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing depicts two unmarried sisters, Roma and Emma Jones, and their sons Kyan and Shaye.

Mr Matthews also heckled Tory members outside the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham in October.

The 47-year-old, from Middlemead Road, Bookham, was asked to move on by police for shouting obscenities through a loudspeaker including “you can stick your new world order up your a**e”.

Mr Matthews is due to appear at Redhill Magistrates’ Court on January 21 accused of causing criminal damage to Justice Secretary Mr Grayling's home.