16 December 2017
Three members of North Lancashire Green Party - Caroline Jackson, Emily Heath and Mollie Foxall - stood trial at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court on 14thDecember, charged with obstruction of the highway during an anti-fracking protest on 29th August. The trial lasted all day, with the three women representing themselves and pleading not guilty. Unfortunately, the verdict was not in their favour, and they were ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling £1,153.
Caroline Jackson is a Lancaster City Councillor and retired headteacher. She said: “We locked ourselves together with bicycle D-locks and sat down opposite Cuadrilla’s gate in the hatched area in the middle of the road for about an hour. We felt it was right and reasonable to use the road for peaceful protest to express our opposition to fracking. We have a responsibility to the natural world and to future generations.”
University lecturer and former Green City Councillor Emily Heath, said: “Getting arrested, having to stand trial and be cross examined by a barrister, and ending up with a fine and a criminal record was not a pleasant experience, but we are very grateful for the support we received from friends in the anti-fracking movement. A large group of people (and even a polar bear!) gathered with banners outside the magistrates court before our trial in solidarity.”
Mollie Foxall, a retired NHS manager, said: “We are disappointed with the outcome of the trial, but we achieved our aim of drawing attention to the fracking industry and the potential harm it will cause locally and globally. We brought a boat named ‘Fracky McFrackface’ to the Cuadrilla site on the day of our protest, to symbolize the impact of fracking on climate change and flooding. The short video that we made with the boat, explaining the reasons for our protest, has been viewed by 11,000 people, and we got lots of media coverage in local papers and online.”
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