Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Climate change protesters in court
Batch of West defendants face series of public order charges:
MORE than 20 climate change protesters have appeared in court charged with a public order offence after Extinction Rebellion demonstrations in central London.
Nine of the defendants were from the West.
They were asked to enter guilty or not guilty pleas during hearings at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
The protesters, who range in age from 20 to 76, are accused of failing to comply with an order to stick to an allocated area near Marble Arch in central London.
The hearings, which took place in two court rooms simultaneously, have recorded a mixture of pleas, resulting in a number of trials scheduled for September and October.
More than 1,000 activists were arrested over the protest action that brought parts of central London to a standstill in April, and so far 232 files of evidence have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Metropolitan Police said in May that it would push for all the 1,151 people arrested, including
Olympic gold medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott, to face charges.
So far, 180 have been charged, one cautioned for outraging public decency and 32 released with no further action. Hundreds of others remain under consideration for charges.
Two courtrooms are being set aside for a day each week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for 19 weeks to deal with Extinction Rebellion protesters.
The group’s tactics allegedly included asking volunteers to deliberately get arrested to cause maximum disruption at roadblocks on Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, while others glued themselves to trains and buildings.
The defendants appearing in court yesterday were charged with knowingly failing to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
The oldest defendant, Caroline Hunt, 76, of Alfred Place in Bristol, pleaded guilty to the offence relating to Waterloo Bridge on April 21.
She received a conditional discharge.
Red Kellino, 52, of Slad Road, Stroud; Robert Rivett, 71, of Withycombe, Somerset; Susan Caroline Ryall, 66, of Scar Hill, Stroud; Ted Stokes, 20, of Collins Road, Totnes; Nicholas Hudson, 56, of Summer House Way, Warmley; Daniel Morelli, 38, of Bridport, Dorset;
76 The age of yesterday’s oldest defendant – Caroline Hunt, of Bristol
Polly Huggett, 36, of Shutes Lane, Symondsbury and Claire Spanner, 52, of Noverton Lane, Cheltenham, all denied being a public assembly participant failing to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer at various locations in London during the protests.
They face trials at the City of London Magistrates’ Court in October.