Activists deny train gluing protest

Three environ ment al activists have denied obstructing a railway by gluing themselves to trains during Extinction Rebellion protests that brought parts of London to a standstill.

Cathy Eastburn, 51, Mark Ov land ,35, and Luke Watson, 29, were charged after a protest halted Docklands Light Railway services at Canary Wharf station on Wednesday April 17.

All three denied the allegations during a hearing at Black friars Crown Court on Thursday.

Ovland, of Keinton Mandeville, Somerton, Somerset; Watson, of Manuden in Essex, and Eastburn, of Gerards Close in Lambeth, south London, were bailed ahead of a trial.

A trial date was not set but judge Alexander Milne QC told the three defendants they must attend another hearing on May 31 at Inner London Crown Court.

The demonstration took place during two weeks of protest surging the Government to declare a climate emergency and reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025.

Watson and Eastburn are both accused of“climbing on to the top of a train carriage and gluing their hands to the roof ”, according to the indictment, while Ovland, who appeared at trial in green T-shirt, is alleged to have “glued his hand to the side of a train.”