Euston tunnel mob is spared jail: Swampy and eco-activists walk free from court after month-long HS2 protest that cost developers £3.5m

A group of HS2 protesters who cost developers millions after they dug a series of tunnels close to London's Euston Station have walked free from court.

A judge yesterday threw out charges against the group, including the veteran eco-activist Swampy, over the month-long underground protest.

The demonstrators, part of a group called HS2 Rebellion, were arrested in February after using the 100-foot tunnel system and several treehouses to play a cat-and-mouse game with authorities over the rail link.

The protest is reported to have cost developers £3.5million – with £2.8million spent on enforcement officers to remove the activists from the site.

The trial against Daniel Hooper, 48 – known as 'Swampy' – Dr Larch Maxey, 49, Isla Sandford, 18, Lachlan Sandford, 20, Juliett Stevenson-Clarke, 22 and Scott Breen, 47, started on Tuesday at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.

A judge yesterday threw out charges against a group of HS2 protesters, including the veteran eco-activist Swampy , over the month-long underground protest near London Euston

But district judge Susan Williams yesterday dismissed the charges of aggravated trespass, saying that at the time of the protest HS2 was not engaged in construction work on the site. A separate charge against Dr Maxey of damage to a mobile phone was also dismissed.

After leaving court, Swampy told The Guardian: 'We shouldn't have been in court in the first place because HS2 shouldn't have been happening.

'Our plan is to stop HS2. Aggravated trespass charges were completely the wrong ones to level against us.'

HS2 contractors were due to start work in Euston Square before the discovery of the secret network of tunnels on January 26 this year. Above: The proposed route

The group initially set up a 'Tree Protection Camp' in Euston Square Gardens last September to protest against the multi-billion-pound project.

It has claimed that the construction of the high-speed rail line between London and Crewe will cause extensive environmental damage.

However HS2 has disputed this, saying that only 43 of the UK's 52,000 ancient woodlands will be affected.

A spokesman for HS2 said: 'The actions of these illegal trespassers put their own lives at risk, as well as the lives of our staff.

'This action was an enormous waste of public money... and we are bitterly disappointed that the court has not found fit to convict these individuals for their dangerous and irresponsible actions.'

Comments

How Apple's lobbying machine defeated Georgia to win

When Apple tried this year to defeat two bills in Georgia, it sent lobbyists, threatened to shut down vital economic initiatives, and pushed the state attorney general to push for an amendment that suited Apple. The bill that seemed to garner the most support was stopped by the Georgia House Judiciary Committee two months later. During this year's legislative session, the committee chairman did not put the bill to a vote, effectively killing him in the lower house. Apple's unreported aggressive lobbying efforts in Georgia underline a model that has received little attention from government across the country this year: State lawmakers introduce bills that force Apple and its tech giant colleague Google to give up some control over their mobile phone application stores. Then Apple, in particular, puts great pressure on lawmakers with promises of economic investments or threats to withdraw its money, and the law has stalled. Representative Regina Cobb, the Republican congresswoma

The Delta-induced surge in the United States has entered a more dangerous phase, and that is dying is changing; Fauci recommends new treatment

As the FDA fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday, America's COVID-19 outbreak has reached a more dangerous stage. The number of cases is increasing in 42 states, in a maximum of six weeks. However, deaths are currently on the rise in 43 states, the worst since December, through America's deadliest month in a pandemic, according to a survey of Johns Hopkins University data by USA TODAY. In the week that ended Monday, 7,225 people died in the United States. In comparison, the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of approximately 5,400 Americans. The face of the dying changes rapidly. According to a study by the USA TODAY National Centers for Health Statistics, deaths are increasingly occurring among non-Hispanic whites. Most other racial and ethnic groups are now responsible for the decline in death rates, although non-Hispanic whites, who accounted for about 61.1% of all deaths during the epidemic, accounted for 68.8% of recorded deaths. in July and Aug

Stephen Miller is responsible for the "disruptive" visa system for Afghans, according to an aide to Pence.

WASHINGTON, DC - A former adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence has accused many translators and other allies of having difficulty leaving Afghanistan ahead of the US withdrawal, a racist sentiment held by a prominent US official. Trump administration. According to Olivia Troy, Stephen Miller, one of former President Donald Trump's main advisers, has joined "helpers" to "destroy" the special immigration visa system at the State Department and the Security Department interior. Troy wrote: “Stephen Miller will spread his racist madness over Iraq and Afghanistan. Pence, she says, is "well aware" of the problem. "We all knew it was urgent, but resources were exhausted," tweeted Troy, who until August 2020 served as Pence's Homeland Security, Counterterrorism and Coronavirus Advisor. In February 2020, Trump negotiated a deal with the Taliban to withdraw US troops this year. "The only reason someone is stranded in Afghanistan is beca

Tsarina USA News

Search This Blog