I AM writing to you in support of the petition calling for the cancellation of the harassment warning notice served on reporter Gareth Davies by the Metropolitan Police after he contacted a convicted fraudster for comment on a story he was writing.

There is a stream of cases now which clearly show that the present harassment laws need urgently to be reformed, and that section two of the Protection from Harassment Act should be repealed.

The section is being abused to stop perfectly lawful activities.

Journalists are not the only targets.

Tim Loughton MP was given a harassment warning notice by the Sussex Police for sending a copy of Hansard to a constituent.

Harry Salaman, a non-practising barrister, and myself, a retired solicitor, were acquitted and awarded our costs by the Brighton Magistrates in April this year of section 2 charges, allegedly for harassing sacked Chief Inspector Tanya Brookes of the Surrey Police.

True information, freely and publicly available in newspapers and online, was sent to her neighbours about her crown court trial for fraud offences.

She was convicted of 33 offences and sent to prison.

The magistrates found there was no harassment – the information was all in the public domain, the conduct was reasonable – and the sole purpose was to have a case involving Mr Salaman reopened.

Mrs Brookes was a witness in that case.

The law urgently needs to be changed to protect freedom of expression for everybody.

What is reasonable cannot be left to the police to decide. Please do all you can to get this law changed.

P GARLAND
Wisley Lane, Wisley, Surrey