Activists are charged after bank protest

SEVEN people have been charged with aggravated trespass after a climate protest at a Cardiff city centre bank.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists were chained to the interior of Barclays in St David’s Way from around noon until 3.30pm on Monday during a demonstration against its funding of fossil fuels.

South Wales Police has released four men and three women on bail to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on December 16.

They are: Pamela Williams, 74, from Llanidloes, Powys; Sarah Wilding, 55, from Knighton, Powys; Christine Welch, 69, from Broseley, Shropshire; Mark Stokes, 62, from Oswestry, Shropshire; Jamie Russell, 48, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire; Dougall Purce, 59, from Shrewsbury; and Michael Bastow, 54, from Oswestry.

The suspects were taken by van to Cardiff Bay police station at about 3.30pm on Monday. They were held until 2pm the following day, said an XR spokeswoman.

The Guardian reports that Barclays put more than £15bn into the fossil fuel industry in 2021.

The Cardiff demonstration was part of a national day of action from XR at Barclays branches across the UK.

A Barclays spokesman said: “We are determined to play our part in addressing the urgent and complex challenge of climate change.

“In March 2020 we were one of the first banks to set an ambition to become net zero by 2050, across all of our direct and indirect emissions, and we committed to align all of our financing activities with the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement.

“We have a three-part strategy to turn that ambition into action: achieving net zero operations, reducing our financed emissions, and financing the transition.”