Five anti-frackers acquitted on obstruction charges at Preston New Road camp

Five anti fracking protesters have been cleared of wilfully obstructing the main road outside the gas exploration site in Lancashire.
Blackpool Magistrates CourtBlackpool Magistrates Court
Blackpool Magistrates Court

Magistrates ruled they had not heard sufficient evidence about the knock –on effect to traffic on the A583 at Little Plumpton near Blackpool where the Cuadrilla site is located.

The five were involved in a lock on protest along the site entrance on July 7 last year.

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Lancashire Police put in place a contraflow controlled by traffic lights around the protest area the hearing at Blackpool Magistrates Court was told.

The legal team representing the five said their clients accepted they had staged the protest but what they did didn’t have a significant effect on the traffic flow.The protest that day had been peaceful at all times.

The court heard there were no major tail backs and that police on duty at the site did not always stage a contraflow at protest times.

The five defendants were Cora Carr (21);Katrina Lawrie (40),Lee Walsh (44) ,Christopher Wilson (57) and Tara Wolf (26).

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They all live at the protest camp site on Preston New Road,Blackpool.All of them denied wilfully obstructing the highway.

The prosecution offered no evidence against all five on allegations they broke Trade Union law by hindering a person going about their work.