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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 25 July 2008

Robert Williamson protesting at the High Court

Police back gas protest pensioner

POLICE have given battling Archway pensioner Robert Williamson the go-ahead to continue his one-man protest against British Gas outside the High Court on the Strand.
Mr Williamson, 79, who has been outside the court for five weeks, received a letter from Charing Cross police allowing his protest to go on.
Great-grandfather Mr Williamson is claiming thousands of pounds of compensation for “misery” caused by British Gas.
He has vowed to “picket” the court until the firm agrees to pay up for “three years of bureaucratic blundering” over money he says he didn’t owe.
A self-employed electrician for 53 years until he retired, Mr Williamson says he can’t afford to take legal action inside the courts but hopes to shame the company – who made £571million profit last year while raising prices by 15 per cent – with his protest banner.
British Gas threatened widower Mr Williamson with bailiffs and twice took him to court, both times unsuccessfully, after claiming he had used an estimated £148 worth gas without paying for it.
On one occasion a gasman tried to read the meter at Mr
Williamson’s maisonette in Girdlestone Walk and couldn’t get in. Mr Williamson was then fined £50 which he refused to pay. He had spent the day in Whittington Hospital with his son Alex, 53, who was dying from liver disease.
Finally this year an independent verifier checked his meter and confirmed that “not a penny” of gas had been used.
Mr Williamson had always argued that he had personally switched the gas off at the mains following a suspected oven leak in 2005.
British Gas apologised in a letter and admitted “poor handling” of the account and “regret” that they caused Mr Williamson “such anxiety”.
The company have offered £150 compensation in “recognition of the difficulties we caused you at this difficult time”.
Mr Williamson says he would have taken his protest to Parliament but due to restrictions introduced for peace campaigner Brian Haw he decided on the High Court.
“The High Court is a national building,” said Mr Williamson. “It is the perfect spot to get my message across.”
British Gas claimed that they had tried to read Mr Williamson’s meter at least 12 times over three years when either he wasn’t there or he was there and denied them access.
A spokesman said: “We feel that the compensation offered is a fair and reasonable offer although we are still investigating the issue. We have cancelled all charges on Mr Williamson’s account.”

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