Overview
- About 100 people forced entry to West Beach on June 24 by cutting a padlock with an angle grinder during a heatwave, escalating a years-long campaign to reopen the shore that has been closed since 2008.
- Michael Tuson drove to the site, fired an air rifle at a coastwatch surveillance camera and was later identified from footage of his van, prosecutors said.
- On Friday, Tuson pleaded guilty and received a six-month prison term suspended for 18 months and a fine after a court was told the shot caused about £5,000 of damage.
- Volunteers who run the damaged camera for the National Coastwatch Institution saw more than £2,500 raised locally to help replace it and Sussex Police say they are working with the port authority and council to strengthen security.
- The beach remains legally part of Newhaven Port & Properties, owned by public bodies in Seine-Maritime in France, and local MP James MacCleary continues to press legislative measures to restore public access.