Green UK lawmaker cleared over fracking protest
LONDON (AP) — Britain's only Green Party lawmaker has been acquitted of charges stemming from her participation in a protest against shale gas extraction.
Caroline Lucas was arrested in August after she and other demonstrators linked arms outside a fracking site near the southern English village of Balcombe.
She was charged with obstructing a public highway and a public order offense.
Lucas and four others were acquitted Thursday at Brighton Magistrates' Court.
An exploratory Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. site, 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of London, became a focus for anti-fracking demonstrators last year. The company eventually decided against production at the site.
Lucas said outside court that she and the others "will continue to campaign to end fracking and only celebrate when our world is on the path to a clean energy future."
