MP Lucas Cleared Of Fracking Protest Charges

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has been cleared of public order offences after taking part in anti-fracking protests.

Ms Lucas was arrested after refusing to move from outside Cuadrilla's exploratory oil drilling site in Balcombe, West Sussex in August.

However, Brighton Magistrates cleared the party's only MP of two charges, obstructing a public highway and breaching the Public Order Act.

Speaking after her acquittal, Ms Lucas said: "We are pleased that the court upheld our rights to peacefully protest against fracking but the judgment is not a victory or cause for celebration.

"We will continue to campaign to end fracking and only celebrate when our world is on the path to a clean-energy future."

During her trial Ms Lucas said she had joined the peaceful protest because "I'm haunted by the idea that my children and my children's children will turn round to me and say, 'What did you do about this overwhelming threat?'"

Ms Lucas had linked arms with other protesters outside the main gate of the site during the five-hour long protest.

However, the area had been designated a no-go area for protesters by the police and Ms Lucas was arrested when officers asked her to move and she refused.

She told the court she felt it was important and "symbolic" to be based outside the gate and that she had not been aware there was an order which meant protesters must stay in a designated area.

The Balcombe protests were protracted and the cost of policing them rose to £4m, prompting the Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne to ask for extra Home Office funding.

Fracking has become a prominent national issue and David Cameron has said that the country must go "all out for shale ."

He has encouraged councils to allow exploratory drilling for gas by offering cash incentives, which campaigners have condemned as bribery.

Many have significant concerns over the environmental impact of the process, saying it could trigger small earthquakes and cause pollution.

The process involves drilling thousands of feet down into the earth to create a narrow well. Water and chemicals are then pumped in at high pressure to create fractures in the rock and release gas.

Fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood sent Lucas a message of support during the trial, and said fracking should be halted until the public was made aware of the "true facts".

Ms Lucas's co-defendants - Josef Dobraszczyk, 22; Ruth Jarman, 50; Sheila Menon, 42; and Ruth Potts, 39, from Totnes, Devon - were also cleared of both charges.