Britain sought to prosecute for assault today the nation's most persistent peace protester who has lived and slept outside parliament for three years.
Mr Brian Haw, a 55-year-old father of seven, has become a familiar feature in London's Parliament Square, where he has camped out since June 2001, demonstrating initially about sanctions on Iraq and then later about the war.
He appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court charged with assaulting an officer and failing to leave a security cordon area when police tried to move him on.
Mr Haw, who denies the charges, arrived in court wearing T-shirt, jeans and his trademark hat bedecked in badges with slogans like "Love Your Muslim Neighbours" and "Give Peace A Chance".
A policeman said Mr Haw pushed, abused and kicked at his groin.
He refused to leave after an abandoned car parked outside the House of Commons sparked a terrorist alert in May this year, police officer Martin St. John told the court.
Mr Haw shouted "Do you want to lose your job?" and pushed him in the chest, the officer said.
The peace protester has not endeared himself to many politicians, who see him as a nuisance as he bellows at them through loud speakers as they enter and leave parliament.
Past court attempts to move Mr Haw and his large collections of posters, banners, flags and pictures of Iraqi children have failed.
Mr Haw lives in a makeshift tent under a statue of Britain's Second World War leader Winston Churchill.
Support for him came today from one veteran left-wing politician, Mr Tony Benn, who gave a character reference.
"I have a high regard for him. He's known across the world as a man who's against the war," Mr Benn said outside court.
Mr Haw's lawyer, Ms Kate Aubrey-Johnson, told the magistrates his arrest just before midnight on May 10 was effectively another attempt to silence the protest.
Officers removed his banners after the arrest.
"Is the reason you invented the kick in the testicles because you wanted to have another reason to arrest Mr Haw?" she said to Mr St.John.
Mr Haw, who returned to Parliament Square after his court appearance, faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail if convicted of assaulting a police officer.