Extinction Rebellion: Priest says faith motivated train-halt climate protest

Father Martin Newell and the Rev Sue Parfitt deny charges of obstructing an engine or carriage on the railway

A Catholic priest who stopped a train as part of a climate protest with two other Christian environmentalists was motivated by his faith, a court heard.

Passengers begged Father Martin Newell, 54 and the Rev Sue Parfitt, 79, to move from the roof of the rush-hour train at east London's Shadwell station in October 2019.

Philip Kingston, 85, was also part of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest and had glued himself to the train.

Police had to unstick him.

Inner London Crown Court was told Ms Parfitt, from Bristol, and Mr Newell, from Birmingham, used a ladder to climb on the train roof while Mr Kingston, from South Gloucestershire, superglued himself to the side of the carriage.

The three protesters, members of Christian Climate Action, an arm of XR, are charged with obstructing an engine or carriage on the railway, which they deny.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Mr Newell told a jury his "deepest motivation" was his Christian faith.

"There's a climate emergency which is an existential threat to the human race and... this was the best way I could think of at that time to draw attention to it and get the government to take the urgent action that's needed," he told the court.

'Love your neighbour'

"Jesus taught us the most important commandment was to love God and love your neighbour, and Pope Francis said the Earth is our neighbour, and I would agree with that and he said the Earth is being abused and we have to stop it."

Ms Parfitt and Mr Newell said prayers while they were on the roof for about 45 minutes, jurors heard.

They tried to talk to passengers and then continued their protest in silence, the court was told.

The DLR train, which was travelling from Lewisham to Bank shortly before 07:00 BST, was about two-thirds full of passengers.

The protest caused 77 minutes of disruption with 15 DLR trains delayed or cancelled, but no trains were stuck in tunnels, the jury was told.

Mr Newell said the protest was the result of months of planning and meetings were held in an attempt to make sure it was safe.

The disruption came a day after an Extinction Rebellion (XR) representative had met with British Transport Police (BTP) to say a protest was on the cards within 24 hours.

Mr Newell added they had decided not to target stations that were underground, or close by, to prevent passengers being stuck in tunnels and "panicking".

The trial continues.