Powerstation protests
Environmental protesters caused almost GBP30,000 worth of damage after painting the name Gordon on a power station chimney, a court heard today.
Five activists spent 30 hours at the top of the massive chimney after breaking into Kingsnorth power station near Hoo, Kent, in October last year.
The environmentalists, some of whom were Greenpeace volunteers, were mounting a protest about the re-development of the coal burning power station, Maidstone Crown Court heard today.
The protesters had planned to daub "Gordon, bin it" on the outside of the chimney in a direct statement to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The defendants who scaled the chimney are Huw Williams, 41, from Nottingham; Ben Stewart, 34, from Lyminge, Kent; Kevin Drake, 44, from Westbury, Wiltshire; Will Rose, 29, from London and Emily Hall, 34, from New Zealand. They are all charged with criminal damage.
Tim Hewke, 48, from Ulcombe, Kent, who the prosecution says helped organise the protest from the ground is also charged with criminal damage.
John Price, prosecuting, said the defendants had arrived at the power station at around 6.30am on the morning of October 8.
Dressed in orange boilersuits and white hard hats bearing the Greenpeace logo, they had headed straight for the huge chimney which dominates the site.
Armed with bags containing abseiling gear, the five scaled the chimney as Mr Hewke waited below to co-ordinate between the climbers and the police who had now arrived at the scene.
Mr Price told the court the protesters had planned to paint "Gordon, Bin It" in huge letters on the side of the chimney which he said was "an injunction to discontinue to development of Kingsnorth Power Station".
He added: "This was obviously intended as a protest against the redevelopment of Kingsnorth as it is a coal-burning power station."
The protesters only got as far as painting the name "Gordon" on to the chimney before they were persuaded to come down after being threatened with a High Court injunction.
But Mr Price said the painting "was sufficient to cause damage to the external surface of the chimney", which was "a few pence short of GBP30,000".
He explained to the jury of three men and nine women that the issue of damage being caused to the chimney was not to be disputed during the trial but that the legality of causing the damage in the first place would form the central issue of the case.
The defendants, he said, all maintained that they were lawfully right to damage the power station as they believed doing so would prevent further damage to properties being caused around the world by global warming.
He explained: "These defendants maintain, each of them, that they had a lawful excuse for damaging the chimney at Kingsnorth Power Station - namely for the protection of other property."
He added: "Other property, you will hear, in Kent and all around the world.
"Property said to be at the risk of more serious damage threatened by climate change which is caused by the substantial increase in what is called greenhouse gases of which it is said coal-burning power stations make a large contribution."
But Mr Price said the acts committed by the protesters were "not capable of being lawful".
He told the jury that the case was not a prosecution of free speech or legitimate political protest but a prosecution for crossing the line of acceptable protest.
He explained: "There are things you can lawfully do in making a protest but there's a line which has to be drawn.
"When the defendants caused damage to that chimney, it's the line that they crossed."
The protesters had planned to close the power station down for four days the court heard.
Hewke, liaising between police and the chimney climbers, told officers that the protesters were skilled climbers equipped with enough food and water to last for four days.
Supt Peter Wedlake of Kent Police was in charge of police operations at the site during the protest.
He told the court that he had advised Hewke that the protesters would be arrested for criminal damage if they carried out their painting threat.
He also said he was concerned about the safety of the climbers after they had scaled the 600ft structure.
Despite the police threat the five painted the name Gordon on to the chimney with the word spanning 200ft over the structure's outer surface.
The court was told that the presence of the climbers and other protesters on the site had led to managers at Kingsnorth temporarily shutting down the power station.
The five climbers were arrested immediately after climbing down from the chimney, along with Hewke.
The case, which is expected to run for a further six days, was adjourned until tomorrow.
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