Smiling Greta Thunberg celebrated outside court today after her public order charge was thrown out after it was found police had imposed “unlawful” conditions during an environmental protest.
The Swedish 21-year-old had been arrested at a protest outside the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair, London, on October 17 as oil executives met inside for a conference.
Ms Thunberg pleaded not guilty to breaching Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 alongside two Fossil Free London (FFL) protesters and two Greenpeace activists at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.
During the trial, district judge John Law said conditions imposed on protesters were “so unclear that it is unlawful”, which meant “anyone failing to comply were actually committing no offence”.
As the charges against all five defendants were thrown out, a large number of protesters in the public gallery applauded and cheered.
The group had been accused of not complying with an order which told demonstrators to move away from the oil and gas conference they were protesting against and to a designated area further away.
Mr Law said the protest was “throughout peaceful, civilised and non-violent” and went on to criticise evidence provided by the prosecution about the location of where the demonstrators should be moved to adding that the only helpful footage he had received was “made by an abseiling protester”.
He ruled there was no case to answer for all defendants.
Mr Law said: “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.
“There was no evidence of any vehicles being impeded, no evidence of any interference with emergency services, or any risk to life.”
The court heard that protesters attempted to gather close to the conference at about 7.30am on the day of the demonstration and police engaged with them about improving access for members of the public, which the prosecution alleged had been made “impossible”.
The judge rejected the submission as “the main entrance was accessible (meaning) that the condition… was unnecessary when the defendants were arrested”.
The prosecution had previously told the court the section 14 condition was imposed at around 12.30pm, which dictated that the protest could continue but on the pavement to the south of the hotel.
Footage was played to the court in which Miss Thunberg said “I’m staying” when asked to move by police constable David Lawrence. The climate campaigner could be seen laughing while footage of her being escorted away was played.
Judge Law said the senior investigating officer for the protest, Superintendent Matthew Cox, admitted that “less restrictive (measures) were available” to police managing the demonstration.
Speaking after the hearing, Miss Thunberg’s lawyer, Raj Chada, told reporters: “The charges against them were rightly dismissed. The conditions imposed on the protest were unclear, uncertain and unlawful.
“They were unlawful because they disproportionately interfered with our client’s right to free speech.
“The Government should stop prosecuting peaceful protesters and instead find ways to tackle the climate crisis.”
He added “we will look into all options”, when asked whether civil action would be taken against those who prosecuted the case.
