Man banned from Thetford Town Council meetings climbs on to windowsill to watch proceedings

A man banned from council meetings after disrupting them climbed on to a windowsill to watch proceedings from outside.

The looming figure of Zak Marketis could be seen at the window during a recent meeting of Thetford Town Council as he tried to follow discussions inside.

Mr Marketis is a member of a campaign group, Thetford Council Watch, which regularly attends meetings of the authority to raise topics such as climate change and vaccine use.

They have been accused of repeatedly disrupting previous sessions and Mr Marketis is serving a year-long ban because of his ‘severe behaviour’.

It led to the bizarre scenes at the recent meeting, as he watched in silence from the ground floor window.

Councillors – including South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy – did not acknowledge his presence and continued with their agenda at the town’s Guildhall.

Outside, though, police in the area did acknowledge his presence and two officers asked him to step down from the 4ft high sill, saying he could hurt himself if he fell.

He argued that even if he was not allowed inside the council chamber, there was nothing to prevent him from standing outside. However, he did step down to ground level.

MEETING MAYHEM

Thetford Council Watch, previously known as the Thetford Sovereign Council and before that the Thomas Paine Independents – after the town’s most famous son whose writings influenced the American Revolution and the Enlightenment – attend council meetings to raise topics such as sex education in schools and the use of vaccines.

However, their biggest gripe is with the council’s decision to declare a ‘climate emergency’ and commit £30,000 to tackling it, arguing there are better ways to spend the money in the town.

The group say they are holding authority to account in the name of ‘freedom and common sense’, and go to the meetings to express their views and scrutinise councillors.

These sessions have repeatedly collapsed into chaos during the public speaking section as members of the group shout at and heckle councillors.

Council staff have called the police on several occasions in an effort to restore order and the authority has hired a private security team to ‘safeguard councillors’.

BREAKING POINT

Mr Marketis was handed the one-year-long ban in November due to his ‘significant disruption’ of meetings.

While he has ceased attending the sessions, he has attempted to find a loophole in the restrictions.

He appeared at the window during a meeting in April, when he used a ladder to peer in to the Guildhall, on the town’s Market Place.​

Then, at a meeting last week, he dispensed with the ladder and clambered up to stand on the ledge to watch.

Inside the chamber, other members of Thetford Council Watch asked councillors questions about the scientific evidence the authority had used to inform the decision to declare a climate emergency.

Members of the group then left the Guildhall at the end of the public speaking section and went outside to film Mr Marketis at the window.

In the footage, he said: “If I’m not allowed to come in for business, I can most certainly stand outside and watch it.”

At this point, police came over and asked him to step down, saying he cannot climb the building because it is council property.

Mr Marketis dismounted the window but argued that “it’s my building too”.

In an increasingly heated discussion, the police officer raises concerns that he will injure himself by falling.