Workers 'stuck' due to Extinction Rebellion newspaper protest

The trial at St Albans Magistrates' Court has been delayed for a second time in as many days

Workers were stuck at a newspaper printing plant for up to seven hours after members of Extinction Rebellion staged a protest outside the main gates, a court heard.

A group erected two bamboo structures and parked two vans across the entrance to The Sun's printing plant in Hertfordshire on 4 September.

It is estimated the blockade stopped 3.5 million newspapers being delivered.

Six defendants deny a charge of wilfully obstructing a highway.

The trial at St Albans Magistrates' Court was delayed for a second time in as many days as one of the accused, Sally Davidson, left the court room after judge Sally Fudge said her co-defendant Liam Norton would be tried in his absence.

On Monday, 36-year-old Mr Norton delayed proceedings for three hours after he glued his hand to a table and filmed himself on his phone in court.

Ms Davidson said she would not be taking part in proceedings as she wanted to stand trial with Mr Norton.

She later returned to court and the trial resumed.

'Nightshift workers stranded'

About 100 workers on a nightshift were unable to leave the plant in their cars when they finished at 05:00 BST due to the protest, the court heard.

Alan Brett, manufacturing director at Newsprinters, near Broxbourne, said the company had to order about 20 taxis and workers had to walk past the protesters to get to them.

Mr Brett said one worker, who finished at 05:00, had to stay at the plant until 11:00 as he was unable to leave in a taxi as he needed his car later in the day.

The court was also told that due to the blockade no ambulance or fire engine would have been able to get into the plant.

Newsprinters produces the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation's titles including the Sun and the Times, as well as the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the London Evening Standard.

PC Josh Wilson, who arrived on scene at 23:30, told the court he saw protesters suspended from the bamboo structures with "rock-climbing-like" equipment, while other activists stood below.

The court heard protesters were also lying under parked vans and the roofs of vehicles.

The activists were protesting at what they said was the misreporting of the climate crisis by the media.

Police repeatedly asked the group to leave the road as they were breaking the law by blocking it, the court was told.

Officers arrested 51 people when the group failed to move.

'Papers failing in their duty'

Eleanor Bujak told the court she sat on top of one of the vans through the night and did not come down until 11:00 the following morning.

When asked why, Ms Bujak said she believed the papers were failing in their duty to the public to tell the truth about the climate and ecological emergency.

Ms Davidson said the blockade was a symbolic protest to make the public aware the government was not protecting its people and were "failing the people of this world".

Another defendant, Timothy Speers, told the court the climate and ecological emergency was "truly terrifying".

"Parts of the planet are becoming so hot they are literally becoming uninhabitable," he said.

"The media in this country - all over the world- aren't addressing the issue."

The six defendants are:

• Liam Norton, of Esplanade Gardens, Scarborough

• Eleanor Bujak, 28, of Bracey Street, Finsbury Park, London

• Sally Davidson, 33, of Byards Croft, Streatham, London

• James Ozden, 35, of The Avenue, London

• Timothy Speers, of Rosswyld Lodge, Waltham Forest, London

• Morgan Trowland, 38, Massie Road, Hackney, London

The trial continues.