The Rolling Stones' Redlands bust

Front cover of the Daily Express (June 30, 1967) describing the incident and trial

In February 1967, two members of the Rolling Stones, the lead singer Mick Jagger and the guitarist Keith Richards, were arrested at Richards' home, Redlands, West Wittering, Sussex for drug possession. The raid had been preceded by a major campaign by the tabloid newspaper the News of the World, which Jagger was suing for libel at the time, and which carried lurid stories regarding Jagger and his girlfriend, Marianne Faithfull. Although convicted—and having spent a night in prison—a publicity campaign by their colleagues in the music industry encouraged popular support and criticism of the decision to prosecute them. Most notably, the traditionally conservative newspaper The Times published an op-ed by William Rees-Mogg asking Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?, in which he criticised the prosecutions as unfounded and unnecessary.