Two Brighton anti-fracking protesters cleared by court

Two anti-fracking protesters from Brighton are among 11 defendants to have been cleared of obstruction at test drilling site in Balcombe.

Samantha Duncan, 30, of Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton, and Richard Millar, 30, of Upper Gloucester Road, Brighton, denied wilful obstruction of the highway.

They were arrested on Friday 26 July last year during protests against the American company Cuadrilla which specialises in shale gas extraction using a technique known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

The two Brighton defendants and the nine others were found not guilty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Thursday 9 January) where the case against them was dismissed by District Judge William Ashworth.

It was argued that Sussex Police did not give the protesters, who were peaceful, enough warning before arresting them.

They were sat on or near a log blocking an entrance to the test drilling site when they were arrested and removed by force.

The Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas has yet to be tried for obstruction and failing to obey a police order to move after she was arrested at Balcombe in August.