Judge awards XR protesters travel costs as trial collapses because officer is on holiday

A GROUP of Extinction Rebellion protesters who brought London City Airport to a standstill were given £280 to cover their travel costs to court, after their case collapsed because a key police witness was on holiday.

The activists had faced trial for alleged aggravated trespass after gluing themselves to the concourse between the airport and its Docklands Light Railway station in October last year.

However, all charges were yesterday dismissed as it emerged that a police officer who had been due to be a prosecution witness was given insufficient notice about the date of the trial and had booked a holiday.

Deputy District Judge Vincent Mcdade said that the officer needed to be present at City of London magistrates’ court to be cross-examined and determine the lawfulness of the protesters’ arrest, which was being disputed. Judge Mcdade said: “There has been an abject failure by the CPS to ensure that this case was properly managed.

“Had the CPS acted effectively and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on Nov 11, then this matter would proceed today with that witness giving evidence. In these circumstances I have no option but to dismiss all matters against all defendants.

“It has been the CPS that has taken five weeks and that is just to tell the witness care unit.”

Claudia Fisher, 57, Phoebe Valentine, 23, David Lambert, 60, Senan Clifford, 59, and John Burrage, 42, were all cleared of aggravated trespass for their “sit in” on Oct 10.

After the decision, which prompted other XR members to cheer from the public gallery, the judge ordered train travel costs totalling £279.80 to the activists who live in Brighton, Gloucestershire and Carmarthen, west Wales.

It was claimed by Maryam Mir, defending, that the demonstrators had been unlawfully detained as the officers on duty had not made it clear why they were being held.

She argued that the arrests were unlawful because her clients could not hear what the officers were saying amid loud chants of “power to the people” sung by the environmental activists inside the concourse.

A CPS spokesman said: “We accept an error was made in not warning the witness sooner which meant the trial could not proceed. We apologise for this error which led to the case being dismissed today at court.”

The actions came on the first day of a three-day “Hong Kong-style” occupation of London City Airport staged by XR to demand greater government action on the “climate crisis”.