Puppeteer and business guru...activists behind stunt
ORGANIC FARMER
ROGER Hallam, 55, helped set up XR but left to advise Insulate Britain, which launched this summer. The organic farmer wants to ‘bring down all the regimes in the world’, starting with Britain, and believes those running society ‘should have a bullet through their heads’. There have been allegations of a ‘cult-like’ following for the Welshman who compares his tactics to those of heroic activists Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He is said to have been inspired to take up climate activism after his farm in Wales went bust due to bad weather.
PUPPETEER
DAVID McKenny, 38, from Cambridge, was one of six XR protesters who ‘doorstepped’ TV wildlife expert Sir David Attenborough, 95, at the height of pandemic after he criticised their tactics. The group posted a letter through Sir David’s door as he isolated due to his age last year. Mr McKenny was jailed for 14 days for contempt after he glued himself to the dock and filmed officials at City of London magistrates court in April. The community musician has taught puppeteering at the Royal Northern College of Music and performed it at Bath Spa University.
ELECTRICIAN
LIAM Norton, 36, is a London electrician who was blocking drivers yesterday, saying he was ‘shocked at the lack of significant action from our Government’. He became involved in climate activism in 2018 when he helped blockade five bridges in the capital and went on to join XR’s ‘actions team’ which is responsible for planning civil disobedi
ence. He was convicted over blocking printing presses last year. He delayed court proceedings by gluing himself to a table. It took three hours for police to remove him and the stunt is estimated to have cost the taxpayer thousands.
BUSINESS COACH
ZOE Cohen, 51, from Lymm, Cheshire, yesterday called for ‘real action’ from ministers. The vegan business coach was involved in XR’s takeover of central London last month. She said then: ‘We are more scared of the reality of what this system is doing to ending life on Earth and ending our future and our children’s future than we are of spending a night in a cell.’ She describes herself as a ‘carbon literate coach’ and ‘XR catalyser’ on social media.
IT EXPERT
JANINE Eagling, 60, from London, helped to block the M25 and A13 junction yesterday. She has been involved with XR since 2018, helping to form blockades across Waltham Forest. The IT project manager describes herself online as a ‘world citizen’ and ‘rebel’ as well as a cyclist, walker and gardener. She has overseen IT projects at top universities and was part of a campaign to improve safety for cyclists in the capital.