Criminal charges have been dropped against dozens of people who protested outside the offices of Unilever about plastic pollution.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to proceed against 34 individuals days before their trial was due to start.
Eight people had been facing charges of aggravated trespass and 26 protesters were charged with the new offence of “locking on” introduced in the Public Order Act 2023.
In a letter from the CPS, lawyers said charges were being dropped because “there is not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.
The charges related to a protest outside Unilever’s HQ in London last September when Greenpeace activists blockaded the entrances in protest over the firm’s alleged failure to tackle plastic pollution.
Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK said: “This is a bolt of good news in an otherwise bleak landscape for protest rights. Our activists were facing a combined total of up to 15 years in prison for standing up to one of the world’s largest plastic polluters.
“The invented crime of ‘locking on’ is just one new tool in a well-stocked legal arsenal that is being used to stifle dissent and send peaceful protesters to jail. Previous governments brought in these laws and powers, but the responsibility lies with [the prime minister] Keir Starmer to end their chilling effect on democracy and repeal them.”
The crime of locking on was one of a number of offences and powers created by the previous Conservative government’s crackdown on peaceful protest.
Last year five climate activists were sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison for taking part in a video call to discuss a planned protest.
Greenpeace’s protest was part of an ongoing campaign against Unilever after the corporate giant announced a major rollback of plastic reduction targets last year.
Climbers scaled the building and attached a large artwork to the outside wall. Activists also blocked the entrances to the building, locking themselves on to large models of the company’s flagship Dove products and a dead dove” parody of the company logo.
The first trials had been due to begin on 15 January at City of London magistrates court.
Unilever has been approached for a comment.
Article by:Source Sandra Laville
