Russian tanker Greenpeace protest case will not be appealed

Greenpeace activist Zoe Pontida, pictured right with other defendants outside Chelmsford Magistrates' Court, said at the time it was a "seismic verdict"

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would not appeal a verdict from a district judge who acquitted 10 Greenpeace activists in the case of a Russian tanker being unable to dock.

Protesters occupied a jetty at the Navigator Terminals in Grays, Essex, on the night of 15 May.

District judge Christopher Williams found them not guilty of aggravated trespass after a two-day trial.

A CPS spokesman said: "We respect the decision of the court."

It is understood prosecutors gave a potential appeal careful consideration.

The court heard the Greenpeace activists unfurled banners on the Thames Estuary that read "oil fuels war"

Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard in November a group attached themselves to the jetty at the Navigator Terminal and displayed banners reading "oil fuels war".

The Andromeda tanker, carrying an estimated 33,000 tonnes of Russian diesel, was turned around in the early hours of 16 May.

The Andromeda tanker was forced to return to anchorage in the River Thames

Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three months' earlier.

Prosecutor Monali Raleraskar argued the case did not "require an analysis of what's morally right".

Mr Williams, however, said it was "more than likely the Russian war could be described as terrorism".

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Greenpeace's head of climate, Mel Evans, said the CPS's latest decision was "the last seal on the vindication of our activists' actions".

"Ministers should have acted far more quickly and comprehensively to cut off the flow of fossil fuel cash powering the Kremlin's death machine," said Ms Evans.

The UK banned the import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products on 5 December.