Extinction Rebellion

sir – I was shocked to read (report, November 2) that an Extinction Rebellion defendant was found not guilty of criminal damage because she had a “very strong and honestly held belief that we are facing a climate emergency”.

I fail to see how this “belief ” can justify spray-painting a council building. The magistrates seem to have allowed personal opinions to outweigh their judicial oath to act “without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”. Any mitigating factors should have been taken into account in the sentence, not the verdict. Angela Graham-leigh

Westbury, Wiltshire

sir – I take it that any money awarded to Extinction Rebellion activists will be forwarded to the businesses and workers who were unable to go about their daily business due to the protests, and towards the cost of extra policing that we, the taxpayers, have to meet. Anne Macfarlane Dunn

West Moors, Dorset