Climate protesters claim victory in appeal against criminal damage verdict

Imperial College PhD candidate and founder of Imperial Climate Action, Pete Knapp, has won his appeal against a previous guilty verdict for criminal damage.

Pete was amongst nine protesters who were arrested and found guilty of £2,000 worth of criminal damage after using chalk spray to write on the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) building, and gluing themselves to the windows last April.

They acted as part of Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, a subset of environmental movement Extinction Rebellion.

Pete explained his perspective: “I know I can’t individually do a great change that needs doing, but we are at the sharp edge of getting change to happen. If I were to step back, that sharp edge might be slightly less sharp. It’s hard to know.”

The original group of nine was split into two groups for trial. Knapp’s group of four had no previous legal experience going into the trial. Through the first trial and the following appeal in the Crown Court, he estimates that they crowdfunded approximately £80,000 to help with legal fees.

Their defence argued that there was no criminal damage because they had used chalk paint spray, which is easily removable. However, the group was found guilty last September in the Magistrate’s Court.

The four were shocked when they were found guilty. They had anticipated a ruling in their favour, since Black Lives Matter protestors were found not guilty of criminal damage after removing a statue of Edward Colston, a slave owner.

When the second group was tried a few weeks later for the same charges, they were found not guilty. “I couldn’t believe it,” Knapp said, “It’s almost as though it didn’t matter what we said. It didn’t matter about the evidence.”

Knapp’s group appealed and, after a long fought legal battle, succeeded on 10th February at the Southwark Crown Court.

Following the victory, Extinction Rebellion plans to try to get the London Science Museum to stop receiving funding from Adani Group, which derives almost 60% of its revenue from coal-related businesses. They also aim to gather 100,000 people in protest in Westminster this April