A police officer monitoring the crowds at last summer’s Balcombe anti-fracking protests told a court this afternoon (22/1/14) how he was punched in the chest by a young woman demonstrator. PC Mario Ciaramella, usually based at Worthing Police Station, was giving evidence at the trial of three environmental […]
The Guardian reported that Britain has defeated European Union attempts to set legally binding environmental regulations for the shale gas industry. According to the paper, David Cameron has led intense lobbying against the proposals, arguing that existing rules are strict enough to keep fracking safe and that new rules would delay investment and increase […]
The Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards, will be called to give evidence at an anti-fracking trial, which could become a test case for the use of the Public Order Act against protestors. The case involves poet Simon Welsh, the first Balcombe resident to be arrested during the […]
The acquittal of 11 anti-fracking campaigners last week (9/1/14) was ignored by most of the mainstream media, despite detailed and prominent coverage of their arrests in July. The group was found not guilty of obstructing the highway outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe, after a three-day trial […]
The Crown Prosecution Service refused to comment on the acquittal of the first people arrested at the Balcombe anti-fracking protest last summer. Yesterday, a group of 11 environmental campaigners were found not guilty after a three-day trial of obstructing the highway outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site, (See below […]
There were cheers and shouts of thank you from the packed public gallery of Brighton Magistrates Court this afternoon (9/1/14) as the first group of anti-fracking campaigners arrested at the Balcombe protest last summer were found not guilty of all charges. Eleven protestors* had been charged with obstructing […]
An environmental campaigner arrested on the second day of the Balcombe protests accused the police of unreasonably and disproportionately aggressive and intimidatory action. Richard Millar, 30, from Brighton, told the city’s magistrates court this morning the police used pressure point tactics on him when he was arrested. Pictures […]
The police gave no warning when they made their first arrest at the Balcombe anti-fracking protest, the trial of eleven campaigners heard this afternoon (8/1/14). Countryside management student Samantha Duncan told Brighton Magistrates Court she was taking part in the protest on its second day, July 26th last […]
The trial of the first environmental campaigners arrested outside Cuadrilla’s drilling site at Balcombe heard this morning (8/1/14) how a peaceful protest became chaotic as police began arresting people. Eleven campaigners deny obstructing the highway on July 26th last year by sitting on a log in the entrance […]
The trial got underway this morning (7/1/14) of the first group of campaigners arrested at anti-fracking protests in Balcombe last year. Three women and eight men are charged with obstructing the highway outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site on July 26th. They all deny the charge. The case is […]
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