Three Insulate Britain supporters were today found guilty of causing a public nuisance by a Crown Court jury, in the eighth trial relating to Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of nonviolent civil resistance. [1]
Catherine Rennie-Nash, Simon Reding and Helen Redfern were declared guilty of causing a public nuisance in relation to the Insulate Britain roadblock at Bishopsgate on 25th October 2021. Alexander Rodger, who was also on trial, pleaded guilty earlier in the week. One other trial relating to the same roadblock took place in December 2022 in which three defendants were acquitted. [2] [3]
After a six day hearing, the 11 person jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict. All four will appear again for sentencing on 24 March and they have 28 days to appeal the conviction. The maximum penalty for the common law offence of public nuisance is life imprisonment.
The trial started with Judge Silas Reid ruling that the four defendants could not refer to their motivations for blocking the road in their defence. As with the earlier Insulate Britain jury trials, the defendants were each barred from referring to the climate crisis, insulation or fuel poverty during the trial. An additional restriction imposed in the current trial was on any mention of the 1960s civil rights activists, the Freedom Riders.
Helen Redfern, 58, a grandmother and social enterprise founder said:
Today the jury has found us guilty of committing a public nuisance by sitting in the road with an Insulate Britain banner in October 2021. However, I go forward with a clear conscience, knowing that the disruption I caused that day is nothing compared to the disruption caused around the world right now due to the climate emergency and the increasing disasters to come. Playing my small part in raising awareness about fuel poverty in the UK and climate emergency with Insulate Britain has been so important to me as I seek to tell the truth and live my values every single day.
Catherine Rennie Nash, 72, a grandmother and former teacher from Kendal said:
“In 2021 we had a no-brainer plan, demanding that the government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes to cut carbon, stop thousands of our elderly from freezing to death in their homes and bring millions out of fuel poverty.
“ Instead of getting on with the job, the government has chosen to prosecute the brave ordinary people who took action in support of our demand. They would rather silence and imprison people for standing up for what is right and for speaking the truth in court than act to protect the people from climate collapse. This is tyranny. They are failing us.
“It’s time to pick a side. More of us must take a stand. We don’t get to be bystanders. We either act against evil or we participate in it.”
In the seven previous Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges, two trials so far have resulted in acquittals, three have resulted in a guilty verdict and two have been deferred. The first Insulate Britain jury trial was deferred until June 2023 after the Judge dismissed the jury and asked the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider whether proceeding with the trial was in the public interest. [4][5]
The Crown Prosecution Service has chosen to summon a total of 56 supporters to answer at least 201 charges of Public Nuisance across at least 51 jury trials the last of which is scheduled to begin on 4th December 2023. These trials are planned to be heard across Inner London, Hove, Lewes and Reading Crown Courts and we estimate will take up around one thousand four hundred and twenty eight hours of court time.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Insulate Britain is a campaign group that is calling on the UK government to put in place policy and funding for a national home insulation programme starting with all social housing by 2025, and create a meaningful plan to insulate the entire UK housing stock by 2030.
Further information about Insulate Britain and our demands here:
https://insulatebritain.com/
Technical Report on home energy efficiency here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jt5FI-kinEXoqZtPDrCvnAVQ2EFn8Aea/view
Insulate Britain ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with ‘blue lights’ on.
[2] http://insulatebritain.com/2021/10/25/breaking-we-wont-stand-by-while-the-government-kills-our-kids/