Passionate words on being judged by a jury

A case close to my heart, both environmentally and geographically, has just been concluded in Leeds, UK. The Drax 29 were charged under the Malicious Damage Act of 1861 with obstruction of a train carrying fuel to the Drax power station in June 2008. In a highly organised protest the climate change campaigners boarded a coal train, offloaded its contents onto the railway track and caused serious disruption to rail services. The activists never denied that they acted to stop the train, but attempted at thier trial this week to justify their actions based on "genuine and deeply felt motives", in other words arguing that they had a lawful excuse for their actions. the judge had initially refused to allow them to raise their excuse of climate change but in the end agreed a deal with the defenants whereby some evidence and... [read full story]                    

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