Extinction Rebellion vicar protester has conviction quashed

A vicar who took part in a peaceful Extinction Rebellion demonstration outside a Ministry of Defence site has had her conviction quashed.

The Reverend Sue Parfitt, 80, was among protesters who blocked entrances to Abbey Wood, in Filton, near Bristol, in December 2020.

She was fined £250 and ordered to pay £500 costs.

In her appeal, Ms Parfitt said justice and issues around climate change are "at the heart of Christianity".

The protest in December 2020 took place after the government announced a large funding boost for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) - twice what it was allocating for climate change.

It came on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Paris Climate Accord, at which the UK government agreed to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Ms Parfitt, who sat in a chair in the middle of the road to block access to Abbey Wood, was arrested after a four-and-a-half hour protest.

She was charged and later convicted after trial at Bristol Magistrates' Court of obstructing the highway and fined £250 and ordered to pay £500 costs.

She appealed against the conviction and told the court she was a member of Christian Climate Action, a group linked to Extinction Rebellion.

"Justice is the central theme of Christianity and justice is at the heart of the issues of climate change and the impending climate catastrophe," she said.

"I have to say children born now have no future unless we can turn this crisis round."

Giving evidence, she accepted the protest caused disruption to the public.

"I apologise to them of course. They are my fellow citizens, and I don't want to disrupt their day," she said.

"However, somehow, we need to try and get across to everybody, all of us, the gravity of the situation we are facing.

"If you remember back to the beginning of Covid-19 there were scenes in supermarkets of people fighting over toilet rolls.

"That is going to be nothing when you are fighting over food, water and fuel and all the basic qualities of life."

Lawyers for the retired family therapist, from Westbury-on-Trym, argued she had a lawful excuse to protest following a Supreme Court ruling that said blocking a road leading to an arms fair was legal.

Allowing the appeal and quashing Ms Parfitt's fine, Recorder Robin Sellers said the protest was "reasonable" and it was important for the court "to show a certain degree of tolerance towards peaceful gatherings".

"In this case, limited to its own facts, we find that Rev Parfitt was exercising her Article 10 right of freedom of expression and this must be balanced against the level of disruption that is established on the evidence," he added.

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