PROTESTER WON'T BE CHARGED FOR CLIMBING ON JUDGE'S ROOF

No charges are to be brought against a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner who staged a protest on the roof of a Devon judge's house, sparking a massive police operation costing many thousands of pounds.Police have also revealed that no action will be taken against the judge after claims that he pointed a loaded shotgun at Jolly Stanesby as he perched on his roof.

Around 80 police officers were deployed when the two-day protest began in November, but police have declined to put a figure on the cost of the operation.Mr Stanesby, 37, a registered childminder from Ivybridge, was arrested after spending two days dressed as Father Christmas on the roof of Judge David Tyzack's Glebe Lodge home.

At 6.30am on November 28, he roped himself to a chimney and set up a rooftop camp.Police cordoned off the area, monitored him round the clock for two days and tried to persuade him to come down.Judge Tyzack QC, who sits at Exeter and Plymouth County Courts on family cases, was targeted for the protest because his rulings on access to children had incensed Fathers 4 Justice supporters.

A statement made on behalf of Judge Tyzack at the time said he took the shotgun out because he thought there was a trapped or wounded bird on the roof.Decisions to take no further action in both cases were taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Despite not facing charges himself in relation to the incident, Mr Stanesby told the Echo yesterday: "I am not very happy about no action being taken against the judge."The judge just wants to keep it quiet and drop my charges as well."My intention for the protest was to get heard."He said he wanted fathers to be treated equally in matters of family law and he would not be giving up.

Mr Stanesby claimed to have received overwhelming support for the protest."It works and it is our only way to get our voices heard," he said.Fathers 4 Justice says that it will be challenging the decision not to charge Judge Tyzack and may pursue a civil case.

The group remains indignant that the Government refuses to hold any discussions with it.In a letter from Harriet Harman to Mark Oaten, MP of Fathers 4 Justice founder Matt O'Connor, she ruled out the prospect of any meeting.Mr O'Connor said: "At least we can say we tried.

I look on the letter as a formal invitation to us to resume our activities."When we are ready we'll give our response in the time-honoured tradition. I don't expect they'll have to wait too long."A Fathers' Day demo is planned by the group in London on June 15.