Western Daily Press (Saturday)
ENVIRONMENT PROTESTERS HAVE THEIR DAY IN COURT
ALL 16 of the Extinction Rebellion protesters accused of causing chaos on the M32 in Bristol will face a trial after denying the offence.
The environmental activists were each charged with wilfully obstructing a public highway. They are accused of blocking Newfoundland Road and Temple Way, near the junction with the M32, on Wednesday.
They all admit to obstructing the roads, but pleaded not guilty to the offence at Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday because they believe their actions were justified by the ‘climate emergency’.
The defendants were split into three groups, meaning there will be three separate trials at the court, on September 4, 9 and 11.
One of the groups was called the ‘Bathtub Five’ by District Judge Lynne Matthews, because they are accused of blocking Newfoundland Way with a pink bathtub.
Those defendants are Edward Lawrence Surridge, 53, of Tangmere Road, Chichester; lliott Cuciurean, 21, of Dorset Avenue, Cheltenham; Imogen Phillips, 20, of Warsash, Southampton; Timothy Andrew Miller, 37, of Imperial Avenue, Southampton and Christelle Blunden, 37, of Tremona Road, Southampton.
District Judge Matthews asked them: “Am I right in thinking you all accept what is attributed to you? You were all stopping the traffic from moving quickly. You were blocking the highway. You were all connected in some way to a bathtub and you were arrested.”
The defendants accept this. Surridge said he has pleaded not guilty based on “the defence of necessity and the prevention of a greater crime, human rights and freedom of expression”.
Blunden said she denied the charge because she did not accept she acted ‘without lawful excuse’.
Miller said: “I am pleading not guilty because I have the human right to act in accordance with my conscience.”
Phillips said her defence mirrored that of Miller.
Cuciurean told the court his defence was the same as that of the other defendants.
They have been bailed before their trial on September 4.
Another group of defendants consisted of Jane Augsburger, 54, of Summer Street, Stroud; James Brown, 54, of Magdalen Road, Exeter; Melanie Phelps, 55, of Beach Road, Kewstoke; Michael Jones, 54, of Harberton, Totnes; and Benjamin Misrahi, 23, of West End, Stroud.
The judge entered a not guilty plea for Brown after he said: “I can’t participate because I have lost confidence in the criminal justice system.”
Brown, who is blind, said his legal rights were breached because he was not informed of the full details of the case while in custody.
He said he was unable to read and his disability was not taken into account.
Misrahi said: “I am not guilty
because I am acting on my survival instinct as a conscientious earth protector.”
Augsburger said: “The issue is with the Government not protecting us.”
They will face trial on September 11.
The final group was made up of Helen Miller, 42, of Imperial Avenue, Southampton; John James Boxshall, 51, of Lower Church Road, Westonsuper-Mare; Sue Jones, 54, of Creech St Michael, Taunton; Madeleine Wakeling, 22, of Ham Street, Glastonbury; Theo Garfath-Gibelin, 24, of no fixed address; and Klaudia Van Gool, 54, of Cornwall.
The trial was set for September 9 at the same court and the defendants were bailed.
Meanwhile, the final day of protest activity in Bristol passed off relatively quietly, with heavy rain perhaps impacting activity by the environmental campaigners who had caused chaos since Monday.
Young people yesterday marched through the city but by 5pm Bristol Bridge, and other roads that had been closed all week, reopened.