Court:
|
Inner London Sessions Crown Court |
Hearing date:
|
6th – 10th December |
Bench (DJ or JPs)
|
Judge Silas Reid |
Charged with:
|
Malicious Damage act 1861 section 36 Obstructing an Engine or Carriage on the Railways Diane Warner had an additional charge for gluing herself onto the train. |
Represented by:
|
HJA Audrey + Blackstone QC |
Please outline key points in prosecution and defence cases.
|
Example of witness statements and process from 08/12/21, mid-way through the trial: “First off, Judge Silas Reid read out his determination of necessity and proportionality. Necessity is out (as has happened in all other cases, so not unexpected). Proportionality will be left to the jury. Summing up by the Judge focused on proportionality and key points covering the defendant’s planning and attention to safety, and the actual disruption to rail users on the day. |
Was defence evidence submitted in writing? |
Yes |
Did defence witness(es) give evidence in person? Were they cross-examined? |
All defendants provided statements from the witness box and were cross examined |
What was the verdict?
|
Not guilty on all counts for all defendants. |
What was the sentence? |
|
What were the court costs? |
|
Please add anything else relevant.
|
The Judge stopped the prosecution’s final summing up when the prosecutor introduced additional evidence referring to the Canning Town action. The prosecutor was moving into a lot of unsafe ground about XR generally, rebels in custody and other aspects of the movement in a rambling monologue, which had the Judge and rest of the court wondering what was going on. The Judge asked the defence to consider their response: a mistrial or to carry on with the striking out of the offending elements. The defence decided to continue on with the trial. According to the Judge, this was the first test of Ziegler with the jury deciding the application of proportionality, not in a highways obstruction charge, as in Ziegler but to a different charge. Therefore this is a significant win. After the verdict the Judge asked that the prosecution consider whether the January DLR case is in the public interest, given the backlog of important cases. |
Court
Charge
Outcome
Court date