9 activists sentenced in ongoing climate trial

On Monday the 6th December the first trial will begin at Trafford Magistrates Court. In this trial the 11 activists who used tripods to blockade the World Freight Terminal preventing air freighted goods from being taken in and out will be tried on charges of obstruction of the highway. Mark and Amanda, who were on top of the tripods, are pleading not-guilty and local Hasty Lane resident Peter Johnson and local Lib Dem Councillor Martin Eakins will both give expert witness during the trial. The trial is expected to last 2 or 3 days.

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Around 20 supporters gathered outside Trafford Magistrates court this morning in support of 11 activists facing trial for blockading Manchester Airport in May 2010. All 11 were facing charges of obstruction of the highway. One of the supporters included local resident Pete Johnson whose home on Hasty Lane is threatened with demolition to make room for the expansion of the airport. The 9 defendants who were pleading guilty received their sentences this morning. They have all received fines which average around £300 per person. The court heard how the protest had been a ‘response to a floored planning process’ and the ‘democratic process being thwarted’.

Ali Garrigan, from Manchester Plane Stupid, said “Today the defendants have taken responsibility for the protest and been accountable for their actions. Meanwhile, Manchester City Council refuses to take responsibility for the emissions from the airport by excluding them from its Climate Change Action Plan and the aviation industry as a whole operates free of VAT whilst communities face drastic cuts.”

Margaret Westbrook, a Trafford resident who came to court to support the defendants said  'the campaigners needed to take direct action due to the devastating environmental impacts of expanding Manchester Airport', she said 'it was a reasonable use of non violent direct action to protest against the demolition of local homes and rising emissions especially since they have tried every other political avenue'.

The trial continues as the two defendants plead not guilty. Amanda Walters and Mark Haworth will argue that due to the local democratic deficit and the threat to local homes, biodiversity spots and the climate from the expansion of Manchester Airport, their actions constituted a reasonable use of the highway.

A public campaign titled ‘Manchester Airport on Trial’ is being run around the court trial and has received support from local members of the public, local groups, academics, barristers, writer and journalist for the Independent Johann Hari, and prominent national politicians such as Heathrow Labour MP John McDonnell, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and Conservative Party MP Zac Goldsmith.

A second group of six protesters who blockaded a Monarch Airline jet at the same time as the protest in May will stand trial separately in February 2011 -  charged with aggravated trespass.  

For more information about the public campaign see http://www.manchesterairportontrial.org/

Contact email: gayle28@ymail.com