A councillor and a fellow Extinction Rebellion activist who smashed windows at a Norwich bank have been told they will not go to jail despite being found guilty.
Green Party city councillor Amanda Fox, 52, and fellow protestor Jennifer Parkhouse, 71, had been on trial accused of causing criminal damage at Barclays' branch on St James Court, Norwich, in April 2021.
READ MORE: Extinction Rebellion protesters arrested for smashing Barclays windows
A jury at King’s Lynn Crown Court found them guilty by a 10-1 majority after four hours and 38 minutes of deliberations.
Both women had admitted they caused thousands of pounds worth of damage but had argued that they had a lawful excuse as they opposed Barclays investments in fossil fuels.
Parkhouse, who at the time was on bail for another Extinction Rebellion protest blocking roads, used a hammer and chisel and Fox a geological hammer to break windows before holding a banner bearing the slogan ‘broken windows are better than broken promises’.
READ MORE: XR activists 'upped ante' with Norwich bank hammer protest
John Fairhead, prosecuting, had described the protest as “theatrical and dramatic”, designed to gain maximum publicity, including by tipping off journalists.
Adjourning sentencing until November 3, Judge David Farrell KC told the women he was not going to send them to prison.
Ordering pre-sentence reports he said he was minded to make them subject to community punishments.
Earlier, both defence teams had applied to have the jury dismissed after one juror wrote to the judge saying they felt they had been “intimidated” and “belittled” during the deliberations.
READ MORE: XR bank hammer protesters ‘not crackpots’, court told
In a note they said they felt they had been “spoken to like a child” over their views and questioned whether they could participate in further discussions.
But Judge Farrell ruled that he was satisfied the “integrity of the jury process had not been irretrievably damaged”.
Sending the jury out to continue deliberations, he warned them: “You must ensure that every juror must be able to express their views and you must respect each other.”
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