Two more Extinction Rebellion protesters who blockaded a printing press and prevented millions of newspapers from being delivered have walked free from court on a technicality.
Three other activists were acquitted last week after a judge said it was unclear if they had staged their protest on private land.
The failure of both prosecutions means it is increasingly unlikely that any of the demonstrators who parked a yellow boat and blue van at the entrance to the Knowsley print works in Merseyside will face punishment.
About 20 more individuals charged with similar offences are due before the courts in the coming months.
Two more Extinction Rebellion protesters – Mirian Instone (left), 22, and Peaceful Warrior (right), 55 – who blockaded a printing press and prevented millions of newspapers from being delivered have walked free from court on a technicality
Their protest was part of a night of chaos in September at two print works – the other in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire – involving 81 activists in total.
They prevented 1,100 retailers from receiving newspapers that night, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Daily Telegraph, and cost publishers £1.2million.
The blockades were criticised as an affront to free speech and drew condemnation from across government. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was ‘completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way’.
Last week a trio of middle-class activists – Katie Anne Ritchie-Moulin, 22, Harrison Radcliffe, 21, and Luca Vitale, 22 – were found not guilty of aggravated trespass by District Judge Paul Healey at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
More than 100 protesters targeted Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, on September 4. Roads were blocked and XR protesters chained themselves to structures. The blockade disrupted the distribution of newspapers
Yesterday at the same court a different judge, Deputy District Judge Roger Lowe, acquitted another two – Mirian Instone, 22, and Peaceful Warrior, 55 – of trespass for similar reasons.
The court was told that Instone and Warrior were arrested at about 7am on September 5 after spending the night chained together underneath the trailer of the boat at the entrance to the Newsprinters print works.
Police bodycam footage shown in court revealed ‘confusion’ among officers over what charges to bring, including trespass, obstruction of the highway or obstruction of the workplace.
Lee Taylor, senior operations manager at Newsprinters, told the court the protesters were trespassing because the boat had ‘encroached’ up to 10ft on to block paving at the site entrance.
Last week a trio of middle-class activists – Katie Anne Ritchie-Moulin, 22, Harrison Radcliffe, 21, and Luca Vitale, 22 – were found not guilty of aggravated trespass by District Judge Paul Healey at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court
He said the paving, bushes, signs and security lodge in the vicinity were maintained by Newsprinters and rejected the idea that members of the public would not be aware they were on private property.
But Judge Lowe accepted arguments on behalf of Instone and Warrior that the public had been crossing the entrance for at least 20 years because it was a continuation of the public footpath. He added there was no sign to suggest the entrance was private property.
Judge Lowe said: ‘There is no case to answer … You are both free to leave.’ He also ordered their costs be paid from the public purse.
The court was told that Instone and Warrior were arrested at about 7am on September 5 after spending the night chained together underneath the trailer of the boat at the entrance to the Newsprinters print works
Dentist’s daughter Instone, of Cambridge, has been arrested before for taking part in protests against HS2 and has been involved in Extinction Rebellion demonstrations all over the UK. She studied anthropology at Birmingham University.
Warrior, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, who changed his name by deed poll from Andrew Gardiner, once stood for the Green Party in his home town.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said the upcoming cases would be kept under review because the defence had successfully argued that the private land had been accessible to the public for over two decades.
More than 50 activists took part in the Broxbourne protest, chaining their hands together inside a tube filled with cement. Last year two of them were fined over the disruption and another received a conditional discharge.
