Charges against 34 people dropped over plastic pollution protest at Unilever HQ
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CPS says there is not enough evidence to proceed against Greenpeace activists who blockaded firm’s London office. Criminal charges have been dropped against dozens of people who protested outside the offices of Unilever about plastic pollution. The Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to proceed against 34 individuals days before their trial was due to start.
Eight people had been facing charges of aggravated trespass and 26 protesters were charged with the new offence of “locking on” introduced in the Public Order Act 2023. In a letter from the CPS, lawyers said charges were being dropped because “there is not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.
The charges related to a protest outside Unilever’s HQ in London last September when Greenpeace activists blockaded the entrances in protest over the firm’s alleged failure to tackle plastic pollution. Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK said: “This is a bolt of good news in an otherwise bleak landscape for protest rights. Our activists were facing a combined total of up to 15 years in prison for standing up to one of the world’s largest plastic polluters.
“The invented crime of ‘locking on’ is just one new tool in a well-stocked legal arsenal that is being used to stifle dissent and send peaceful protesters to jail. Previous governments brought in these laws and powers, but the responsibility lies with [the prime minister] Keir Starmer to end their chilling effect on democracy and repeal them.”.
