Greenpeace protest in Grays halted ship with Russian fuel, court hears

The Greenpeace activists are scheduled to stand trial for two days at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court

Ten Greenpeace activists forced a ship carrying Russian diesel to U-turn to highlight "state-level hypocrisy", a court has heard.

The defendants were said to have blocked a jetty at the Navigator Terminals in Grays, Essex, in May.

They have gone on trial at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court, where they denied obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity.

Prosecutor Monali Raleraskar said the jetty was "important" to the terminal.

"They had gained access from the riverside by dinghy boats," she said.

"The Port of London Authority made the decision to turn the ship around and return her to anchorage so no fuel was discharged."

Ms Raleraskar said the protesters thought they "were acting in an honest belief that they were preventing a crime being committed".

The court heard the operations manager of the terminals was informed the protesters breached the jetty at about 23:10 BST on 15 May.

The activists then attached themselves to the structure and displayed a banner that read "oil fuels war", it was told.

Defendant Michael Grant said the group blocked the Andromeda tanker to highlight "state-level hypocrisy"

She said the group was arrested on 16 May and taken into custody in Colchester.

In a video published on TikTok, played in court, a protester at the site said: "We're here to stop a ship carrying Russian oil from docking here in the UK."

One of the activists said to have scaled the jetty, former lieutenant colonel Michael Grant, told the court they targeted the Andromeda tanker to draw attention to fossil fuels "being imported and thereby funding Putin's war".

"Our aim was to really highlight what I would call state-level hypocrisy that was hiding in plain sight," said Mr Grant.

"We didn't have time to take the usual routes."

The 62-year-old said he had "signed hundreds of petitions", but that if he had walked into a police station to raise the issue he "would have been dismissed as a crank".

He said that two months into the invasion of Ukraine, the numbers of deaths were "equivalent of a Manchester Arena bombing every day".

The defendants are: Benji Bailes, 38, of Bristol Road, Gloucester; Michael Grant, 62, of Rosewell, Midlothian; Kim Harrison, 38, of Oldham, Greater Manchester; Benjamin Hearne-Salter, 41, of Kashmir Road, south London; David James, 62, of Bromfelde Road, south London; Ian Mills, 56, of Chippenham, Wiltshire; Zoe Pontida, 32, of Oxford; Henry Rayner, 28, of Ivanhoe Road, south London; Lyndall Stein, 72, of Surrey Row, south London, and Rhiannon Wood, 27, of Hedge End, Hampshire.

The trial continues.