Greta Thunberg’s public order charge dropped as judge criticises police action

Greta Thunberg has been cleared of a public order offence after a judge threw out the case, saying the police had attempted to impose “unlawful” conditions on a recent protest that interfered with her human rights.

The climate activist and four others appeared in court on Thursday where they pleaded not guilty to breaching Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 over a protest outside a fossil fuel conference in London last October.

District Judge John Law said on Friday the conditions imposed by police on the protesters were “so unclear that it is unlawful” which meant “anyone failing to comply were actually committing no offence”.

Police had ordered demonstrators to move away from the oil and gas conference and to a designated area nearby after five hours of protest.

Footage was played to the court in which Ms Thunberg said “I’m staying” when asked to move by Pc David Lawrence.

The climate campaigner could be seen laughing in court while footage of her being escorted away was played.

The prosecution had argued the order was necessary because the protest had made access to the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair “impossible”.

But Mr Law said the main entrance to the hotel was still accessible, and that the condition imposed on the protesters was therefore unnecessary.

He added that the prosecution had not provided adequate evidence of where the protesters were supposed to move to.

Mr Law said the protest was “throughout peaceful, civilised and non-violent” as he ruled that there was no case to answer for each defendant.

He found that the conditions were unclear and unreasonable, had not been properly communicated to the protesters and disproportionately interfered with their right to free speech under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“It is quite striking to me that there were no witness statements taken from anyone in the hotel, approximately 1,000 people, or from anyone trying to get in,” he said.

“There was no evidence of any vehicles being impeded, no evidence of any interference with emergency services, or any risk to life.”

Luke Statham, prosecuting, told the court that Supt Matt Cox had the “rights of the protesters in mind” when he made the decision to impose the order.

“The protester’s freedom of assembly has to be balanced by users of the hotel and access to and from the hotel,” he said.

“[Supt Cox] said he chose that condition because he would be concerned if protests continued closer to the entrance of the hotel, then it would, in effect, collapse back in on itself,” he added.

Judge acquits all five defendants

Ms Thunberg appeared alongside Greenpeace activists Jeff Rice and Pete Barker and Fossil Free London activists Christofer Kebbon and Joshua James Unwin.

Protesters watching proceedings from the public gallery cheered and applauded as the judge acquitted all five defendants.

Police are under pressure to respond to disruptive climate protests after months of sporadic actions by Just Stop Oil that have brought traffic in central London to a slow crawl.

Speaking after the hearing, Ms Thunberg’s lawyer Raj Chada said: “This verdict shows the danger of clamping down on peaceful protest.

“Rather than prosecute climate defenders, the state would better use its time to deal with the climate crisis that threatens our very planet.”

A further 21 people who took part in the same demonstration, during which two activists abseiled from the hotel roof to unfurl a banner, are due to appear in court on later dates.

Mike Schwarz, solicitor for Mr Rice and Mr Barker, said: “This is a small but important step in rebalancing the right to protest against the power of those bent on destroying our planet.

“Public order law continues to be tightened up. In contrast, legislation and policies to protect the environment and limit those who profit from its destruction are not matching the rhetoric about the importance of protecting our environment.”