Bishop Hill Criminal records for Friends of the Earth, Sandbag
Dec 17, 2015 Greens ;)
Guy Shrubsole: convictYesterday, the green activists who disrupted the Banks Mining facility next to Matt Ridley's home in Northumberland were up in court on charges of aggravated trespass. I have received the following report.
1. Yesterdays court case went ahead as planned at Bedlington Magistrates Court.
2. The nine charged protesters all appeared in court. They brought along a barrister from Manchester.
3. They appeared rather 'sheepish' in court.
4. The barrister argued mitigating circumstances on the basis of that it was a legitimate protest and that the protesters were frustrated by the lack of UK Government action to combat climate change. The judge (a district judge) apparently didn’t think much of this and suggested that it was not appropriate for matters of national politics to be argued by way of illegal obstruction of legitimate coal mining operations in Northumberland.
5. Eight pleaded guilty and received:
They were bound by a court order not to go within 50m of a Banks site.
- a criminal conviction for aggravated trespass
- a fine of approx. £1,000 each made up of £150 court costs, £850 towards Banks losses and some other smaller bits.
- a 12-month conditional discharge
6. One pleaded not guilty. Thought to be the “legal observer” that was with the three protesters down in the mine. He is apparently going to try to argue that he did not disrupt mining activities in any way. He is still on police bail and due to appear in court again for a trial in March 2016.
The names are:
- Roger Geffen, 49, of Southwark Bridge Road, London.
- Ellen Gibson, 21, of Elm Grove, London;
- Philip MacDonald, 28, of Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, London;
- Beth Louise Parkin, 29, of Dodgson House, Bidborough Street, London;
- Pekka Piirainen, 23, of Elm Grove, London;
- Thomas Youngman, 22, of Hermitage Road, London.
- Laurence Watson, 27, of Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, London;
- Guy Shrubsole, 30, of Bavent Road, London; and Lewis McNeill, 34, of no fixed address.
Guy Shrubsole is a full time employee of Friends of the Earth.
Laurence Watson and Philip MacDonald are full-time employees of Bryony Worthington's Sandbag organisation.
Roger Geffen, as noted previously, is an MBE and a full-time employee of a cycling campaign group.
Reader Comments (107)
Today New statement and photos on their website
don't behave like a warmist/alarmist activist
I can understand @Justice4Rinka's anger, yes those guys do the Alinsky tactic of targetting the individual.
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it"
They routinely smear Matt Ridley, running a dedicated Viscount Ridley twitter account.
But whilst they throw science & proper processes in the bin we should not.
They knew they they were breaking the law, but early news spoke of a possible caution.Shrubsole's article in the New Stateman
Shrubsole's CV : Public Interest Research Centre, DECC, Defra ..a revolving door between - Activist NGO's and government ?“You have now lost your good characters.” the judge said
The paper says the illegal action cost the mine £100K+ so will Bryony be paying that ?
Today activists also lost in court in Australia, their big legal move to block the $12Bn mine failed. The land court ruled that you cannot block a mine on the grounds of the emissions generated by burning the coal. (cos it will be dug elsewhere anyway).. But There is still 5 years of bureacracy for Carmichael coal mine before opening.
- And another mine is re-opening
They are not all Londoners I suspect some addresses of convenience like college etc.
In this instance especially, it really goes against the grain to say that those who thrive on publicity stunts, are still entitled to a fair trial, even if they do not offer the same courtesy to those they decide are guilty of upsetting their belief systems.
If the mine lost £100,000 then the fine of £1000 each didn't come near to covering any loss.
It would be funny though if they were sent for psychological examination. 40% of our energy still comes from coal. Taking that away would do a darn sight more immediate damage than any putative climate change. And we could go to 0% emissions in the UK without changing anything about the climate even if the hypothesis was correct. Hence I'd say that they needed some time with a therapist to deal with basic reality issues.
There is rhyme and reason to their approach, not that I approve at all, these Londonistan green scum and this was wanton mischief making, cocking a snook at authority and deliberately done, fortunately they came up against a judge of the old school who always took and still do, a pretty dim view over violation and trespass, incursion into private property.
Thus eight of 'em got done but that is not the end of this.....................
They will try to force it to the crown court, and consequently plead Gaia worship and reduced mental
capacityresponsibility on account ofstrictmaniacal observance of their green religion and Jim Hansen, Hollywood luvvieshire, perhaps Jean Claude Juncker will all turn up and blah blah, blah with a liberal judge and recourse to the full, the baleful, iniquitous predisposition - with its bias towards [all] wrong headed minorities, in the ECHR - they've got a whale of a chance of being set free, awarded damages and then the other lot [8] .........will no doubt be exonerated and all will walk away, blameless, stainless, heroes of the moment, of norf Landan it will be another triumph for stumpy and the green morons, young lavs - the SWP/Social Justice Warriors of FoE.And fat chance of justice being observed, nor indeed of being meted.
Bringing a barrister to a magistrate court for an offence where the tariff is 3 months max porridge indicates to me that the intention was to try on some minor league legal intimidation of a provincial bench - perhaps Lord Carnwall wasn't available.
I hope that next year the legal observer (who obviously was well aware of the trespass) gets a custodial - that would be delicious :-)
In the group's response statement they imply/allege that Owen Patterson has been 'disgraced'. When did that happen? Can we look forward to further action? I do hope so.
Trebles all round I think.
PS: to those thinking of adopting a polar bear for £3 and then eating it, I'm afraid that is not very advisable; the meat's poisonous:
http://piecubed.co.uk/polar-bear-liver/
And they do not make cuddly companions for young children.
By all means buy one, shoot it, and have it skinned - must be worth more than £3, and there's a plague of the things 'up north'.
Cumulo Nimbus, rather than resign from CTC, write to them, expressing your disquiet. If CTC consider that he brings more credit to CTC with his activism in other areas, you may wish to consider your position.
If CTC consider his continued involvement with activism diverts attention away from CTC's core mission, then CTC can reconsider their position. If not, you can have another think about it.
If I have a grievance against CTC, am I entitled to target YOU as individual?
Causing excess winter deaths by using intimidation to put up the price of fuel, means that anti-coal protesters can't plead "public interest" due to their belief that eventually the coal CO2 might to do some harm to humanity.
.. I half expected them to plea Eco-Insanity.
Yes @ Capell I saw that defmation against Owen Paterson
As we know such activists consider themselves above the law, and so it's OK for them to routinely spread lies and smears against individuals.
Judges should consider this contempt for the law when sentencing them.
The green protesters are massively massively funded so someone should compensate the mine and workers lost wages etc.
Ivor and jamesp, going into the dock without a proper banister would be in breach of Health and Safety.
Looks like a few people are going to be busy!
Fracking: plans to drill 68 new shale gas wells unveiled
Cumulo nimbus, are his actions in any way being stated as being representative of the CTC? If so, does he have authority from those in charge of CTC? If he does, you might be wise to question the official standing of CTC on what appears to be more of a political situation, with little to do with cycling or cyclists. However, if he is NOT acting as a representative of the CTC, then what are you worried about? Or do you feel that everyone in an organisation – be it the CTC, Caravan Club or AA – has to have opinions that do not conflict with your own? Your comments on this do appear somewhat… erm… cloudy.
GC
They should have employed a barista, which would have both saved them money and kept them awake. :-)
The "Crims of the Earth" intend to milk it
"...ordered to pay compensation and costs exceeding £10 000. We will soon launch our fundraising campaign to help cover these costs. Stay tuned to the website and our social media accounts for more information." (they say on their website)
C u next Tuesday's - deluded twits who need a productive job - like coal mining!
All I said was that the CTC is, as far as my experience goes, reputable in spite of whatever Mr Geffen MBE chooses to do in his spare time. There is no reason to suggest that his alleged activity at Banks was in any way connected with his work for the CTC. The moment he publicly links his advocacy for cyclists with his environmental extremism I will expect the CTC to distance itself from him and should it fail to do so I shall resign.
As it stands, there is no reason to connect the CTC with Mr Geffen MBE's alleged behaviour that day any more than the local working man's club of which you may be a member has to apologise for your speeding fine. CTC has no case to answer here.
My original post was designed simply to point out that CTC is not some hotbed of the kind of violent extremist activity the kind of which Mr Geffen MBE is accused.
Perhaps, if found guilty, the barrister could be struck off?
Maybe if I pursue a new career in burglary I should take a barrister with me.
From their website, post conviction:
"We are proud of the actions we took on 26th October"
Isn't that contempt of court..? I can't imagine it helps Mr Geffen's case!
Also, I hope they don't use coal-generated electricity, as that would be awfully hypocritical.
"We are proud of the actions we took on 26th October"
I somehow think that will not impress the district judge much - has anybody let him/her know about it?
Far more effective than publishing an address I suspect - contempt in a magistrate court isn't afaik as much arbirary fun as doing it to a Crown Court judge - I'd like to be proved wrong though.
Cumulo Nimbus, thank you! I hope the responses have been received in good faith.
Some people get more thrill and enjoyment out of the publicity stunt, than whatever it was they were supposedly trying to achieve.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the Politically Correct term for stroppy kids these days.
One wonders why local FoE members, who are usually quite vocal on these matters, chose not to carry out this rather silly action and save some CO2 emissions.
RR, Cumulo Nimbus,
I expect that CTC will not be all that worried about the extra-curricular activities of their employee's unless they result in adverse publicity. If convicted, Mr Geffen's problem will more likely be him continuing as a Director and Trustee of both the Cyclist's Defence Fund and Cyclenation, as both Companies House and the Charities Commission tend to take a rather dim view of criminal convictions - he might have to give his gong back as well.
Any comment from the lovely Baroness?
I've got a criminal record too: it's 12 inches diameter black vinyl, sung by Des O'Connor!
Those wishing to legally stomp about on Matt Ridley's Northumberland coal need but purchase a ticket to his stately slagheap:
http://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-glenda-slag-geoengineering-prize.html
Car park and bouncy castle included .
BillB, London based Eco activists will fly to the ends of the earth, provided someone else is paying the bill. Besides, they enjoy it.
Most Londoners will be disappointed that they are free to return to London, worried they will turn their attention on the sources of electricity for London Underground.
vvussell, are you trying to build a defence of senility, before you get arrested for inciting hate crimes?
Your loss of faculties was no loss to your University's Faculty.
Their addresses reveal the psychosis of the political left. Presumably living in London gives you a rather strange view of the world.
George Monbiot endorsed the actions of protesters who sabotaged Scottish mine equipment and encouraged future similar action (2009).
"But while the government undermines its own targets, some people in Scotland are putting its climate change policy into effect. The Scottish camp for climate action has declared war on opencast coal mining. Yesterday people associated with it did what the government should have done years ago, and cut the conveyor belt used to carry coal from the Glentaggart pit in Lanarkshire to the local rail terminal.
Now they propose to take on other pits, as well as Scotland's biggest coal-burning power stations. They have chosen the right targets. Coal is the dirty word that threatens to destroy attempts at Copenhagen in December to prevent climate breakdown. If governments won't take it on, we must."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2009/aug/07/monbiot-scotland-climate-policy
"George Monbiot endorsed the actions of protesters....."
That must be ok because it was in the Guardian.
Great news!!
But what a pity that Greenp!ss and Baroness Worthless were not in Court, charged with conspiracy, together with these ignorant trustafarians.
I feel pride.
Russell
Glenda Slagg (2 g's) is a spoof tabloid journalist who features in Private Eye, and is nothing to do with Matt Ridley or coal. If you're trying to appeal to English sensibilities, you may have missed the target (in the same way that 'vvattsupwiththat' is puerile to those who know the original, and pointless to those who don't).
"I feel pride" (Aila)
For what..?
"Puerile to those who know the subject matter, and meaningless to those who don't" pretty much sums up the good Harvard professor's contributions in my experience.
jamesp: 8:41,
More to the point, who is Pride and why is Aila feeling her?
Schrodinger's Cat
Monbiot was sailing pretty close to the wind of incitement to commit a criminal act. I contacted some Scottish government agency or other, but was ignored.
Many Leaseholders of flats, own the freehold of the building, via a holding company. I do not know that is the case in this instance.
Shooting from the hip, jamesp has predictably shot himself in the foot :
There is no mention of Glenda or the Eye in the post linked to
http://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-glenda-slag-geoengineering-prize.html
nor did I write the URL
The post , here excerpted, is about Matt's Earth Art tourist attraction and is entitled :
MOVE OVER, BOLSOVER
"In the North of Britain, art patronage has long been synonymous with coal underfoot. Having millions of tons at his disposal, Viscount Ridley has upstaged Christopher Monckton's performance art by having Princess Anne unveil the world's largest statue of a naked lady, the quarter-mile long coal spoil earthwork, Northumberlandia , a bodacious synclining nude weighing a svelte 1.5 million tons.
Ridley comissioned earth artiste Charles 'Capability Brown Coal' Jencks to spend two years atop a bulldozer, geoengineering slag piles and coal spoil into a bituminous Boudicca whose profile puts even the mighty Venus of Bolsover Castle to shame.
Invoking the muses may earn tax breaks in strip-mine reclamation, but how did an outcrop of coal-fired patronage conspicuous as Northumberlandia escape mention in The Spectator, which hosts the Matt Ridley Prize for Environmental Heresy? "
FYI
there is an extended piece in The News Post Leader
An extended cast list:
Judge :Bernard Begley
Prosecutor: Sarah O’Neill
The Defence Barrister: Richard Brigden
One has to look at Mr. Bridgen's cv and wonder about a number of things....
The largest slice of the "fines" is compensation - but at 10% of the loss (which one can assume is evidenced) - one cannot help thinking that Justice Begley actually let them off quite lightly.
Civil recovery might be fun - since the goons actually did the deed and have been convicted....shown no remorse (the opposite actually) and (ab)used the court as a platform for spouting rubbish.
I feel confident that there's a Mancunian lawyer or several that'd have a stab at the amount involved on a conditional fee basis.
"There is no mention of Glenda or the Eye in the post linked to"
You provided the link, Russell - I just chose not to visit it!
Good to see some common-sense justice being administered. On the whole this a a satisfactory outcome, unlike many. They could work their fines off by digging some coal.
tomo;
Given that they have been found guilty of criminal acts, it should be relatively simple for the company to recover full costs through the Civil Courts as the onus of proof is a lot less.
GC;
So what? He has three entries on the Companies House website, three different occupations and none refer to his 'full-time' job.
"Maybe they could work off the fines by digging coal for the company :)" --BLACK PEARL
Alas, it might require more training than it's worth, starting with learning to recognize which end of the shovel is the digging end.
Will those convicted claim to have been shagged by plain-clothesed policemen, have their convictions quashed and awarded exemplary compensation from public funds?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Salopian, fair comment. If the information is available, it is available, but given some previous comments on this thread (since snipped) it did seem sensible to suggest a perfectly innocent explanation, as many flat leaseholders are now directors of companies owning the freehold.
vvussell's attempt to stir things up for the victim of a crime, does indicate that some people would prefer to go for cheap shots and bad publicity, which proves the point of the original thread.
Greenpeace activists decided to take the peace out of the Russians a few years ago, so the Russians showed them the level of hospitality they deserved. It is a pity these idiots were not given the opportunity of sharing seasonal greetings, with others indulged with Royal hospitality
Martin Brumby, in terms of 'shagging' I am not quite sure what plain clothes means. That they worked undercover, and succeeded in penetrating, 'undetected', is something those men might be ashamed to admit.
GC,
Sorry, but once an individual has publicly announced themself as a 'campaigner' as their occupation on Companies House that is a matter of fact. Sorry, I don't think there's anything 'perfectly innocent' about this.
Really, GC !
Far from stirring things up for poor Matt, I'm directing much-wanted Earth Art & bouncy castle custom to the Ridley Estate parking lot.
That Shrubsole chap looks awfully well-scrubbed. Is he holding a Book of Mormon..?
:-)
"CrimFunding" campaign started, for those interested in financing organised crime.
Do you think it will be their last action ? If answer is "no", then you are knowingly funding organised crime.
£1,120 raised so far so that's £9K to go plus another £100K for possible civil damages
Dale Windce-subsidy could maybe sell one of his sports cars.
I don't know if they are being vindictive but they are calling for people to object to Banks (Mining) Groups new housing Hazlerigg project which is to be across the road from the Havannah Nature Reserve, about 25% of the park length. The park does have red squirrels, but they fail to mention the nature reserve used to be a coal mine. (The petition
They are not calling for objections to Banks Group 28 renewables projects