was not made retrospective. Although the commencement order made to bring the act into force had made reference to demonstrations begun before the act came into force, there was no power for the commencement order to extend the scope of the act. The government appealed against the judgement, and on 8 May 2006 the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and therefore declared that the act did apply to him. The court found that the intent of parliament was clearly to apply to all demonstrations in Parliament Square regardless of when they had begun, saying "The only sensible conclusion to reach in these circumstances is that Parliament intended that those sections of the Act should apply to a demonstration in the designated area, whether it started before or after they came into force. Any other conclusion would be wholly irrational and could fairly be described as manifestly absurd." In the meantime Haw had applied for permission to continue his demonstration, and received it on condition that his display of placards was no more than wide (among other things). Haw was unwilling to comply and the police referred his case to the Crown Prosecution Service; a number of supporters began camping with him in order to deter attempts to evict him. In the early hours of 23 May 2006, 78 police arrived and removed all but one of Haw's placards citing continual breached conditions of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 as their reason for doing so. Ian Blair (head of the Metropolitan Police at the time) later said that the operation to remove Haw's placards had cost £27,000. The actions of the police were criticised by members of the Metropolitan Police Authority at its monthly meeting on 25 May 2006. Haw appeared at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on 30 May, when he refused to enter a plea. The court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, and he was bailed to return to court on 11 July 2006. At a licensing hearing at Westminster City Council on 30 June 2006, Haw was granted limited permission to use a loudspeaker in the space allowed to him. On 22 January 2007 Haw was acquitted on the grounds that the conditions he was accused of breaching were not sufficiently clear, and that they should have been imposed by a police officer of higher rank. District Judge Purdy ruled: "I find