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Climate activists' trial postponed after defendant glues himself to the dock

Trial begins against 50 Extinction Rebellion members who last year blockaded the printing works in Broxbourne, where copies of the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail are printed

THE trial of six climate activists who blockaded media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s printing presses has been postponed after a defendant glued himself to the dock.

The six appeared in St Albans magistrates’ court yesterday in the first of a series of trials against 50 Extinction Rebellion activists who blockaded the printing works in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, on September 4 2020. 

But the trial was halted after defendant Liam Norton, 36, launched a “contempt of court action” by glueing himself to the dock and live-streaming the proceedings. He now faces a maximum four-week prison sentence or a £2,500 fine. 

The action in September prevented copies of newspapers including the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail from reaching news stands. 

It was taken to highlight “the failure of the corporate press to tell the truth about the climate and ecological emergency,” Extinction Rebellion said. 

The six face charges of obstruction of the highway. 

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