Updates
Jimmy Kerr reads final statement to press outside the court
Edinburgh High Court Appeal: June 7th 2011: An appeal to better judgement
Today defendants Tilly Gifford and Dan Glass from the Climate 9 had their appeal heard at Edinburgh Appeal Court against the conviction they received last summer for Breach of the Peace.
The conviction related to a direct action taken in March 2009 where the Climate 9 shut down Aberdeen airport and directly stopped 107 tonnes of emissions from contributing to man-made climate change. They played golf in a cage on the taxiway to highlight the fact that the airport’s expansion will serve to deliver Donald Trump’s super-rich golfer pals to his contentious course at Balmedie Estate.
Following a two week long trial in August 2010, which was the first jury-led climate change trial in Scotland, all 9 defendants were convicted of Breach of the Peace for their role in the protest. Dan and Tilly made the decision to appeal against the conviction as they hold firm to the belief that the action they took was justified, proportionate and necessary in the face of catastrophic climate change.
Appellant Dan Glass said “the Scottish legal system defines breach of the peace as an activity “causing fear and alarm to the ordinary and reasonable person, and which threatens serious disturbance to the community. I can’t think of a better way to describe climate change. Sometimes, we believe, the law must be challenged to protect our fundamental freedom of expression and to disrupt lawful activities that are harming the prospects of future generations. Furthermore it’s the role of a democracy to protect the voices of the minority aswell as the majority. So we will continue fighting for justice.”
The appeal has reached its final stages after months of anticipation and against a backdr0p of severe climate change, as recent estimates suggest an unthinkable 4 degree temperature rise by 2080. During the 4 hour hearing this morning the court heard a strong case from the defence, who argued that the jury wasn’t given any sense of this grave context regarding both the importance and urgency of the protest.
Appellant Tilly Gifford said “The judge presented a choice to the jury between ‘breach of peace’ and ‘freedom of expression’ without any context. This is simply not good enough. The jury should be given the serious climate change context of the situation relating to the case, otherwise the inference is completely abstract from reality.”
The appeal verdict will be heard within the next 6 weeks in a final court hearing. A date is not yet set. If it is successful it will set an important precedent for future protest cases, through actively defending freedom of expression and supporting the legitimacy of the right to protest given the governments inaction to effectively tackle climate change. It would be the first legal case in Scotland to engage with the severity of climate change that we face and challenge the ‘business as usual’ attitude that the aviation industry is taking in its expansion plans.
Plane Stupid spokesperson Joe Ryle said “Aviation remains the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions in the UK and we cannot let this go unchallenged. However the heart of this debate is about our fundamental right to protest and whether we are prepared to tolerate greater disruption to business as usual in the face of climate change.”
Please get in contact with info@planestupid.com for any information or support.
Day 10 – Friday 25th June – The nine celebrate despite guilty verdict.
Verdict in. Guilty of breach of the peace. Final statement read outside court by Jimmy Kerr, one of the defendants:
“Last year, the Climate 9 stopped dangerous greenhouse gases reaching the atmosphere by disrupting operations at Aberdeen Airport.
The law has found us guilty of breach of the peace, but in the court of international opinion we’ve received overwhelming support. This support is further legitimised by the scientific evidence which has been brought to light by the evidence given by expert witnesses in the court.
This is the first time in Scotland, and the first time anywhere since the failure of Copenhagen that evidence of the dangers of climate change and aviation emissions have been presented by climate experts to a jury.
This week we’ve heard Dr Alice Bows and Dr Geoff Meaden warn that the UK governments emissions targets are not radical enough to prevent future generations from experiencing catastrophic events like the flooding in Brazil this week where 100, 000 people have been made homeless, 1,000 people are mission, and at least 42 people have sadly lost their lives.
These horrific events are why we must continue to take action to stop greenhouse gas emissions, especially when the response from the government is woefully inadequate.
While they talk, and nothing changes, people all over the world are starting to act. Even when it means standing up against the states use of legal intimidation. This verdict shows that the mechanisms of the establishment won’t stop runaway climate change. The expert witnesses have shown that we must take effective action, the protest at Aberdeen has shown that we can.”
Dr Alice Bows and Dr Geoff Meaden, expert witnesses, outside Aberdeen Sheriff court
Day 9 – Thursday 24th June – Trial to end tomorrow!
Today the court heard closing statements from the advocates (barristers) for each of the nine. The advocates spoke about the responsibility and courage of their clients who took action for future generations and those affected by climate change now. One said;
“To put yourself in peril for the sake of future generations…if you think about it that is a very noble act”
Another referred to the sense of higher responsibility on which the accused had acted and added;
“In a hundred years people may look back and applaud the actions of these brave individuals”
Tomorrow afternoon the jury will deliver their verdict in what has been an incredibly exciting, empowering and groundbreaking trial for climate justice. The nine have already proven that peaceful protest is both legitimate and necessary in view of government policies which will not avoid the massive suffering predicted and currently experienced due to climate change.
Day 8 – Wednesday 23rd June – ‘Targets not strong enough and people’s action urgently needed’ say expert witnesses
Dr Alice Bows, top climate scientist from the University of Manchester, and Dr Geoff Meaden, Geographer and key witness for the Kingsnorth6 case today testified to the urgent need for climate action. This is the first time arguments concerning the urgency for climate action have been heard by a jury in the UK since the failure of the Copenhagen talks, and the first time ever in Scotland.
Dr Alice Bows, a top climate scientist from the University of Manchester, spoke to the court about the contradiction between UK aviation policy and action urgently called for from the scientific community to avoid catastrophic climate change. She said:
“The UK Government’s Committee on Climate Change policy of 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 only gives us a 50:50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. You wouldn’t go to sleep in a house that had a 50:50 chance of burning down in the night, so we need even tougher targets. In fact we need a complete de-carbonisation of the economy in the next few decades. Because we need to tackle emissions right now, the actions of both governments and individuals are important.”
Dr Geoff Meaden, expert in biogeography and coastal hazards, who was also a key witness in Greenpeace’s precedent Kingsnorth6 case2, spoke about the local impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Speaking after court he said:
“At present I see little evidence that governments at all levels are taking sufficient action on climate change. Therefore, like those who have committed civil disobedience in the past I believe that groups such as Plane Stupid must take every opportunity to bring the urgency of climate change to the public attention.”
Judge Harris yesterday added credibility to the defendants case when he referred to the radio 4 ‘Today’ programme of that morning in which he had heard that 98% of scientists believe climate change is caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
He also told the jury this morning that all of the Vandalism charges had been dropped, along with some aspects of the Breach of the Peace charge relating to entering the premises.
Climate9 and supporting statements on Day 8 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court
Day 7- Tuesday 22nd June – Expert witnesses to be heard tomorrow-
Expert witnesses Dr Alice Bows, top climate scientist from the University of Manchester, and Dr Geoff Meaden, Geographer and key witness for the Kingsnorth6 case will be testifying to the urgent need for climate action on the 8th day of the Climate9 court case.
Alice Bows will testify to the urgent need to cut aviation emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, while Geoff Meaden will talk about the local impacts of climate change here in Aberdeen and the fallacy of current political inaction.
The prosecution has now finished and the defence case began this Monday. Further expert witnesses will be called for the rest of the week and the case is currently expected to be closed on Friday.
Day 6 – Monday 21st June – Criminal Damage Charges Dropped-
Today the Crown Prosecution came to a close. The Procurator Fiscal is dropping the charges of Criminal Damage for the two protesters on the roof of Aberdeen airport. The defence case is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
The police Constable R. Bird read out a printed Press Release and a note, seized from Dan Glass and Jonathon Agnew, respectively.
The court heard that part of the press release stated:
‘BAA Aberdeen said they welcome Donald Trump’s Golf Course. Like Alex Salmond, Trump wants to bulldoze over democratic opposition to environmentally damaging projects like airport expansion. Both Trump and BAA’s plans face fierce local opposition. Dan Glass, one of the protesters stated;
“The reality is that our generation’s future is vanishing so that people like Donald Trump and his super-rich friends can jet into Aberdeen for a round of golf. The expansion of this airport just cannot go ahead.”
Another, 24 year old Tilly Gifford,a social worker from Glasgow, said:
“Alex Salmond wants to let the Spanish shareholders of BAA, Donald Trump and his super-rich American friends concrete over Scotland and its efforts to stop runaway climate change.”
She added:
“Arctic ice is melting, the sea is already rising and experts warn the world’s rainforests could collapse. Our generation is already starting to feel these impacts as the warming kicks in so it’s obvious that it’s going to need to be us that urgently puts the brakes on expanding unnecessary airports.”
A bag of imitation golf balls were also exhibited as part of the Crown’s productions. “New Orleans; Dyce; Polar Bears; ClydeBank; Rainforest; Aberdeen; Sipson” were some of the inscriptions written on the golfballs, as read out by Police Constable Bird. These are just some of the places where communities are already suffering the effects of climate change.
Leaving court today Josephine Hanson, one of the Climate9,stated that:
“I was surprised by the charges in the first place as we had conducted ourselves so carefully during the action. To claim Criminal Damage for some residual stains from sand bags is excessive and ludicrous. All their own evidence ridiculed the claim of criminal damage. BAA are criminalizing any voices of dissent and we will to see that justice is done for those affected by climate change.”
The case continues..
Day 5 – Friday 18th June. Scheduled Air Ambulance not Emergency Flight :“This is news to me” says Police Inspector from witness box
Inspector Irvine was on duty on the morning on the 3rd of march 2009. He told the court on Friday 18th June that on the day he was acting on information, from a source which was not the police. This featured an ‘emergency flight’, a ‘critically ill baby’, a ‘helicopter’ and that they ‘needed the taxiway’.
When informed that it was established, just yesterday, that this was a scheduled air ambulance, not an emergency flight, Inspector Irvine responded:
“This is news to me that it was a scheduled flight”.
Boggia’s advocate then asked the police inspector “would Breach of the Peace [with which the 9 accused are charged] include the whole circumstances – including inaccurate information about taxiways and emergency flights?” Inspector Irvine confirmed this would be the case. This erroneous information could bring into question the charge of Breach of Peace.
On Thursday 17th June a video of the protest was screened to the Jury, who witnessed defendant Dan Glass informing the police cameraman of their objectives. Dan Glass stated that they were there to “close the airport for as long as possible; to stop CO2 emissions as they are dangerous; to stop airport expansion; to end short haul flights; to support people in high-emission industry into green jobs; to highlight the social disparity between those who cause the problems and those who suffer the impacts.”
Juliana Napier from the Climate9 Defence Committee (1) continued: ‘This evidence is incredibly important in establishing the truth of what happened during the protest. The Climate9 freely assembled in Aberdeen airport to stop the harmful emissions causing runaway climate change and raise awareness about the issue. They did this to ensure that our own and future generations can enjoy good health in a safe environment not to endanger the life or health of anyone.’
Day 4 – Thursday 17th June – Video of protest establishes real objectives of the action
The hour long video of the Aberdeen protest, as recorded by the police, was screened to the court and jury.
When the police negotiator suggests they have made their point, have generated publicity and can now pack up and go, one of the accused clearly states that their objectives differ. He states that they are there to:
“Close the airport for as long as possible; to stop airport expansion; to end short haul flights; to get people in high-emission industry into green jobs; to highlight the social disparity between those who cause the problems and those who suffer the impacts.”
On the video, time and time again we see the protestors seek confirmation of the ambulance delay, affirming that they are willing to leave immediately as soon as it has been established that they are a genuine obstacle to the take off of the air ambulance.
The police witness affirmed that during the action all the protestors were “fully compliant and in good spirits”.
Day 3 – Wednesday 16th June – Air Ambulance, BAA funded police
Today court heard from several witnesses about the delay caused to flights departing, including from two senior staff working on the ground in the terminal building. We also heard from two witnesses regarding the delays in helicopter operations on the day in question.
Later Stephen Wright of GAMA Aviation- the firm in charge of air ambulances in Aberdeen Airport – spoke about an emergency ambulance flight scheduled to take off from Aberdeen on that day. He mentioned a delay and first referred to ‘confusion’ in relation to the delay incurred. However, when he was read his police statement from the time conceded he would have had a better recollection when he gave the statement. This included:
“Our flight was scheduled to take off at 8.00am this morning, but in fact took off about 8.35am, but this was due to our operational delay by the medics and not the protestors. This incident has had no financial or life threatening or operational impact on our operation. I have no complaint regarding this matter.”
A police officer belonging to a police department funded by BAA, present on the taxiway on the day in question confirmed that this was a matter of peaceful protest and that all the protestors were ‘very polite’.
