Section 14 - Guilty: 01/07/21 (2)

Charge
Outcome
Court date

Court:

CLM Court 3

Hearing date:

July 2, 2021. 2.30pm

Bench (DJ or JPs)

Lucinda Lubbock, Debbie Sandford

Charged with:

S14 1st September 2020 Parliament Square

Represented by:

Raj Chada, HJA

Please outline key points in prosecution and defence cases.

 

AC Louisa Rolfe gave her usual reasons for deploying the S14 on the 31st August based on previous XR protests in 2019 and the disruption they had caused. All protesters had been asked to protest on the grass area in Parliament Square. She was rigorously cross examined by Raj. Rolfe deemed it a necessary and proportionate response. PC Beckiluck (not the right spelling) gave evidence and BWV was shown. He was cross examined by CPS Lubimbi. The defendant was asked to move and cautioned but didn’t comply. He was quite vociferous in his reaction. He was lifted and taken to Walworth PS at 14.35.

The defendant then gave evidence. He talked of how fossil fuels are killing our planet and that he was doing this for his children and grandchildren. The Government had introduced ‘The Oil and Gas Agency’ to explore and maximise fossil fuels while committing to the Paris Agreement. A load of Greenwash. He was obliged to publicise this story by sitting in the road. If the climate crisis is not addressed, millions of people will die.

Raj cited the original skeleton argument which quoted Zeigler but the goal posts have changed since the Court Ruling on Friday. His actions were reasonable and proportionate. This threw the Magistrates a bit and they withdrew for nearly an hour. But guess what? They came back with guilty. For a little while we were hopeful…

Was defence evidence submitted in writing?

Yes but in paper copies on the day.

Did defence witness(es) give evidence in person? Were they cross-examined?

Yes pleaded not guilty.

What was the verdict?

Guilty.

What was the sentence?

Conditional discharge 9 months

What costs were awarded?

£300 + £22 VS

Please add anything else relevant.

 

See above. We were hopeful for a little while.