By Jack Mendel
Seven female Extinction Rebellion activists have been found guilty of causing criminal damage against Barclays Bank.
The defendants aged between 28 and 64 were charged with £100,000 worth of criminal damage at Barclays HQ in Canary Wharf last year.
They will be sentenced in late January next year and could be facing a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail.
Extinction Rebellion said its activists caused the damage to protest Barclays’ investment in the fossil fuel industry, and the convictions of the seven female members was “vindication.
Defendant Lucy Porter told the jury, according to XR, that while “we are not above the law.. I cannot accept that I am a criminal, while companies like Barclays continue to break legally binding agreements which are causing suffering and death across the globe.”
Zoe Cohen, another of the defendants, accused the government and judiciary of “doing its utmost to clamp down on ordinary people trying to protect life, and prevent societal breakdown, the jury system is a small chink of light and hope.”
The action on 7 April last year comes as the government said it will crack down on disruptive and ‘illegal’ protest, including from environmental activists.
In recent months, groups such a Just Stop Oil have caused havoc protesting on roads and vandalising public sites, such as the Treasury and Bank of England, covering them in orange paint.
The full list of those convicted are: Rosemary Annie Webster, 64, Cazzie Wood, 53, Gabby Ditton, 28, Lucy Porter, 48, Niki Stickells, 52, Sophie Cowen, 31 and Zoe Cohen, 52.
Barclays and the Crown Prosecution Service have been asked for comment.
The post Seven Extinction Rebellion campaigners convicted of criminal damage at Barclays HQ appeared first on CityAM.
