A democracy campaigner accused the Metropolitan Police of abuse of force yesterday after being left with a twisted knee, ankle and severe bruising following his arrest at a meditation session on Westminster’s Parliament Square.

Donnachadh McCarthy was one of the three people arrested next to Gandhi’s statue on Monday evening as the Occupy Democracy camp defied the ban on camping equipment in an “act of Gandhian civil disobedience.”

When under arrest, Mr McCarthy was allegedly left without legal advice or food until released on bail. “We did a meditation and they allowed us to sit on the tarpaulin and at the end of the meditation I said: “We are here in the spirit of Gandhian civil disobedience and all over the world Occupy is represented by tents.