XR prophets of doom
Priest, 79, and vicar in dock for protest on rail carriage roof
AN ELDERLY Anglican priest, a retired vicar and a third Christian climate activist ‘went too far’ when they stopped a train in rush hour, a court heard yesterday.
Reverend Sue Parfitt, 79, and Father Martin Newell, 54, used a ladder to climb the Docklands Light Railway service while Phil Kingston, 85, superglued himself to a carriage.
Furious passengers at Shadwell in east London begged the trio to stop so they could get to work but it required a specialist police team to remove them on October 17, 2019.
Edmund Blackman, prosecuting, said the defendants had been too disruptive. ‘Of course, living in a democratic society, people have that right. It is a precious right but that right has to be balanced against the right of other people,’ he told jurors.
‘This case is about where you draw that line. The prosecution case is that they went too far.’
The train, which was travelling from Lewisham to Bank shortly after 7am, was about 70 per cent full. The protest caused 77 minutes of disruption and 15 DLR trains were delayed or cancelled, Inner London Crown Court heard.
The activists, who are members of an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion called Christian Climate Action, have each pleaded not guilty to obstructing an engine or carriage on the railway.
Parfitt, of Bristol, and Newell, from Birmingham, said prayers during the 45 minutes they were on the train roof.
They had initially tried to engage with angry passengers but gave up, the court heard.
During her police interview, Parfitt said she hoped to draw attention to the climate crisis so the Government would take action.
She told officers: ‘Whatever it takes to do that, we have to do it.
We were apologetic to people and understanding that they were being late to work but trying to say “this is for your children”. Some people were listening to us, I think.’
She said she accepted the costs of stopping a train were ‘enormous’ but it was nothing compared to the cost of climate change.
She added: ‘We are talking of proportionality here. Whatever the cost of today’s action – it hardly figures really compared with what we’re talking about and trying to get the nation to talk about.’ She said the team deliberately did not stop a train in a tunnel because that would have caused panic.
Jurors heard that one passenger pleaded with the trio: ‘We have got to go to work, the kids are on the train and we have got to go to school.’ In response, Newell apologised, adding: ‘But this is what we have to resort to.’
The jury heard that some passengers told the environmentalists: ‘This is a f***ing electric train, you should be supporting this.’
The trial continues.
‘Tried to engage with passengers’