Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Climate protest like bid to save ‘burning house’
Trio convicted over illegal demonstration
A climate campaigner has compared his part in an illegal protest to breaking the window of a burning home to save those inside.
Extinction Rebellion member John Halladay, 61, of St Augustines Road, Canterbury, used the analogy as he appeared before magistrates charged with a public order offence.
He was in the dock alongside Ursula Pethwich, 83, and John Lynes, 91, who had joined him in protesting outside of a police-authorised zone at Dover Eastern Docks in September this year. The trio ignored police when asked to remain within the designated area, instead moving their protest to a roundabout. After refusing to move, they were arrested.
In a near-tearful speech to the court, Halladay had said: “When the house is on fire normal rules don’t apply. It is not a crime to break a window to save those inside.
“A colourful protest on Dover seafront doesn’t cut it any more. “We have to be prepared to give up our freedom. Ordinary peaceful protest plays a part but the situation is so severe we have to take every avenue of protest short of violence.” The trio pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a condition of Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, arguing they were acting out of necessity to save the planet.
But District Judge Justin Barron convicted them all following a one-day trial, saying that while he agreed there was a climate emergency he did not accept it necessitated a need to break the law.
Lynes, a scientist by profession, has written books on the subject of global warming. He told the court he had visited refugee camps in Iraq and Kurdistan and said there was no water for crops.
He added many big cities are on the coast, where sea levels are rising.
“The point of no return is very close indeed and that is frightening,” he said.
Pethick, also tearful as she addressed the court, said: “Government inaction now justifies non-violent protest and direct action.
“I believe it would be a crime not to take action, although I regret taking up valuable police and court time.”
The trio were among more than 200 protesters taking part in the demonstration, with two others later convicted after gluing themselves to the Jubilee Way.
District Judge Barron recognised all three defendants were “not normally people who would break the law”.
“I have heard three very powerful accounts,” he said. “You are all very passionate about climate change and I understand that.”
He said he accepted climate change as scientifically proven but still had to apply the law. Halladay, who was cleared of a more serious charge of being an organiser of the protest, was fined £500 and ordered to pay £260 costs.
Lynes and Pethick were each given 18-month conditional discharges and hit with costs of £260. n Protest flags erected by climate change activists on the city wall without permission were hauled down by the city council. They had been run up a flagpole overlooking the ring-road in Pin Hill by Extinction Rebellion last week.