How the Founder of Extinction Rebellion Finally Went Down
It was four years ago when the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion used a hammer and chisel to break a window at the Department for Transport causing nearly £30,000 worth of damage. Despite that fact, Dr Gail Bradbrook was only convicted by a jury this week and will not be sentenced until December.
One of the main reasons that things have taken so long is because this is actually the second trial in the case. In July of this year the first trial was aborted after Bradbroook defied an order from the judge not to speak about the motivation for her actions.
This might seem unusual because the protest was directly against the HS2 project that the Department for Transport are leading. However the trial is ultimately about the facts of the case and so this time around Bradbrook had to submit her statement for approval before it was presented in court and the defendant was reminded that speaking again about her motivations for the protest meant that she risked being charged with contempt of court.
Unsurprisingly that did little to dissuade Bradbrook who continued to speak frankly about her position despite continued warnings from the bench: