Lecturer sobs in dock as he is fined over climate protests

A FORMER Government adviser on transport has been fined for his part in the Extinction Rebellion protests which brought parts of London to a standstill.

Dr Steven Melia, 57, broke down as he told a court his actions were a justified response to a ‘ catastrophic’ climate emergency. The transport and planning lecturer, from the University of the West of England in Bristol, has previously advised the Government on eco-towns.

He was found guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday of two counts of failing to comply with a condition to disperse protesters. Melia was among thousands of people who demonstrated across the capital in April. He was first arrested at Waterloo Bridge on April 16, for refusing to move to a permitted demonstration at Marble Arch.

He was later released but went to a separate protest the following day at Oxford Circus, and was detained again.

Melia, who represented himself at the trial, had to pause after he began crying while saying current action against climate change was ‘not enough, it’s not working’. District Judge Richard Blake fined Melia, of Bristol, £500 and told him to pay £300 in costs.