Three Extinction Rebellion activists who glued themselves to a train have been found guilty of obstructing the railway.
Cathy Eastburn, Mark Ovland and Luke Watson were charged after a protest halted Docklands Light Railway services at Canary Wharf station on 17 April.
A jury at Inner London Crown Court unanimously found the trio guilty.
Judge Silas Reid said most defendants do not come to court “for such noble purposes”.
Watson, 30, Eastburn, 52, and Ovland, 36, all denied obstructing an engine or carriage using the railway and will be sentenced on Thursday.
Jurors convicted the defendants after an hour of deliberations, but the foreman added it was “with regret”.
Extinction Rebellion, an activist group whose protesters are urging government action on climate change, said the trial was the first to be dealt with by a crown court as opposed to a magistrates’ court.
The trio was arrested during two weeks of demonstrations organized by the group, which brought parts of London to a standstill.
Watson, of Manuden in Essex; Eastburn, of St Gerards Close in Lambeth, south London; and Ovland, of Keinton Mandeville in Somerton, Somerset, have been released on unconditional bail.
In her closing speech to the court, Eastburn, who spent a week in prison on remand, compared the action to raising the alarm when your house is on fire.
Watson told the court the group warned the relevant authorities of their actions beforehand and had chosen a station that was above ground to avoid unnecessary distress.
Judge Reid indicated that a conditional discharge was possible, telling the jury: “I don’t see at the moment that there’s any possibility of any of these defendants going back to prison.”
Read more at BBC
Shocked! Simply shocked!!
But, but, the liberal anarchist were just trying to save the planet. So they were doing us all a service. How can you convict!?
Liberals seem to think if they break the law for one of their “worthy causes” it is okay and there should be no consequences. However, consider what they are doing. It is an attempt to by pass democracy and force their agenda on to the people. That in itself should be a crime. They certainly should be going to jail for the laws that they break.
Frankly these idiots from the Just Stinks Rebellion should be made show some real responsibilty like Build some Bird Houses and Feeders,Plant some trees and clean up after one of those stupid Earth Day Celebrations they tend to leave a big big mess every time
Good, let’s hope this is just the start of getting these stupid #ClimateCrackpots convicted!