Extinction Rebellion: Sydney Christmas protesters have charges dismissed
A former ABC broadcaster, a university academic and several seasoned protesters were among 12 Extinction Rebellion activists who walked free from court after having multiple charges dropped.
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A dozen climate change protesters who glued themselves to the ground and caused chaos in the Sydney CBD have walked free from court after the majority of their charges were dismissed.
The court heard the group, which included a former ABC broadcaster, were dressed as reindeer and elves a part of the Extinction Rebellion protest which shut down sections of the city on December 20 last year.
Their actions, dubbed a simultaneous “die-in”, during the morning rush hour in protest of government inaction had caused gridlocked traffic for commuters with multiple streets blocked off.
However, they have escaped serious punishment with a total of 16 charges of obstructing police thrown out.
Katherine Gollan, Thomas Colley, Toby Thompson, David Gill, Luca Lamont, Juliet Lamont, Alexander McDonald, Peter Matthison, Hugh Kennedy, Sharon Hodge, Denise Tych and Lan Nguyen were sentenced in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to failing to comply with a police direction.
Gollan is a former broadcaster with ABC’s Radio National and the Lamonts, mother and daughter activists from Byron Bay, have a long history of staging protests across the country.
Colley, 57, is a PHD researcher at Western Sydney University while Matthison is applying to join his local RFS brigade, the court was told.
While all but Matthison had a charge of obstructing police charges dismissed, they were each sentenced to a seven month community corrections order without conviction for the charges of failing to comply with a police direction.
All had handed up references to the court which detailed their long history of involvement in acting on environmental issues and their high standing in the community.
The court had heard that police rescue officers were required to remove a chained protester before they found the key to the padlock in his shoe.
Bolt cutters and glue remover was required to move them on from Martin Place and Pitt St during a Christmas-themed protest in which they stuck themselves to a sleigh and dressed up as a Santa-inspired Scott Morrison.
All 12 had escaped conviction except Matthison, who was fined $110 for obstructing police.
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