UCL management may have implicated students in a criminal investigation. Sources inside UCL Union have in- formed The Cheese Grater that the names of six individuals embroiled in the chalking of the UCL campus have been sent to the Metropolitan Po- lice. These are said to include Education and Campaigns Sab- batical Officer Michael Ches- sum and Environment and Ethics Officer Greg Brown. However, it would appear that neither has been told first hand by management that they could be prosecuted.
UCL would only con- firm that CCTV footage of the chalking had been handed to the police at the time of the original action. It is cur- rently unknown whether the police feel they can take the matter further given the avail- able evidence. However, ac- cording to sources UCL has informed the police that if they do not take action against those listed, UCL will do so itself.
Michael Chessum told The Cheese Grater: ‘If it is true that our names have been sent to the Metropolitan Police, this would prove the political motives of the college in do- ing this as neither Greg Brown nor I took part in the chalk- ing. It is literally impossible for college to have footage of me taking part in the chalking because that did not occur.’
The chalking of campus was one of the most contro- versial actions associated with the UCL Occupation last year. Questions have been raised as to its legitimacy and legal- ity as a political tactic in re- cent UCLU Council meetings.
A motion was proposed at Council on 18 January to con- demn the chalking of the Por- tico as criminal damage, given that part of it is designated as a War Memorial. The motion encouraged those who took part to come forward under the protection of Welfare Officer Leo Nicholas. However, given recent developments, it would appear that this request from the Union has not yet been met.
Questions have been raised by the student move- ment as to the ethics of UCL management in not informing the ‘Chalking Six’ before hand- ing their details to the police. Sources inside the student ac- tivist community have also que- ried whether this could be an attempt to pick off those seen as ringleaders of student activism. Whether this attempt pays off, however, remains to be seen.