...and look who’s back!
Swampy hits demo trail again
ECO protester Swampy has returned to activism saying Extinction Rebellion has given him hope.
Daniel Hooper, 46, became a national figure after living for a week in a tunnel protesting against the widening of the A30 in East Devon.
He was also involved in other high-profile environmental campaigns, targeting the M11, the Newbury bypass and Manchester Airport.
Yesterday – after more than a decade largely out of the headlines – he appeared in court for being part of a group of ten Extinction Rebellion protesters.
The activists handcuffed
‘I believe there is hope’
themselves to a concrete block to barricade the road to an oil refinery in Pembroke during the protest last month.
Swampy, who lives in a village in South Wales, appeared at Haverfordwest magistrates court for wilfully obstructing free passage along a highway.
He pleaded guilty yesterday, leaving court with a £40 fine, a surcharge of £32 and £85 in costs.
The environmentalist, who has four children, told ITV News that Extinction Rebellion had given ‘hope’ on an issue ‘more important than Brexit’.
He said: ‘My beliefs are the same as they always were. And yes, I did have a quiet ten years and then Extinction Rebellion started happening and you think there is hope and I believe there is hope and we just need to win now.
‘You know, we need to, everyone needs to really think about what we’re doing. Governments need to change. Companies need to change. We need people’s assemblies to decide what to do.
‘This is a state of emergency. We all know it’s a state of emergency. It’s undisputed now. So let’s get, let’s get this going.
‘This is the most important issue of the day. More important than Brexit.
‘ It is depressing that we’re still having to fight the same fight.
‘But there we are and I hope one day we don’t have to fight this fight.’
In his court hearing, he told magistrates: ‘I was doing it to prevent a greater crime, the eco crime of profit at the cost of the planet.
‘I am pleading guilty, I can’t really afford to keep coming to court.’
Hooper, who at the height of his fame appeared on Have I Got News For You, lives in the village of Talley in Carmarthenshire, which is known for its community of environmentalists who live in teepees.
Born to a middle- class family in Berkshire, Swampy made his name in 1996 when he led hundreds of protesters who chained themselves to trees in the way of the Newbury, bypass in Berkshire.
A year later, he and four friends hid in tunnels they had dug beneath the planned A30 bypass at Fairmile in Devon.
That year he was pictured in an Armani suit for a newspaper interview.