AN activist who graffitied a courthouse has been jailed for two weeks.
Venetia Carter, 58, used chalk spray to paint ‘Isulate Britain’ on Crawley Magistrates’ Court last month in support of fellow climate activists.
Carter, of Sutherland Road, appeared before magistrates in Brighton yesterday, May 4, charged with criminal damage.
In her mitigation, she said: “I am here because of a non-violent act seen as a rational and compassionate response to the failure of our government.
“It fails to meet the legally binding carbon emissions targets set under the Paris Agreement.
“It fails to communicate to the general public the state of emergency which Parliament itself has declared.
Venetia Carter Center
“This failure could cost us our lives, the lives of our children and grandchildren.
“It appears what I have done is a crime and I have been advised that there is no legal defense I can offer with any reasonable hope of success.
“I know it is no crime to be a spectator, to watch the world burn, as scientists implore us to act to avert the unimaginable suffering brought about by global ecological and societal collapse.
“But I would rather stay here and plead guilty to criminal damages than sit on the sidelines, wringing my hands and bearing the guilt of failing to act at this crucial moment in history.
“On Friday, a European Space Agency satellite recorded a land surface temperature of over 60 degrees centigrade in India.”
Magistrates told Carter she had “stuck two fingers in the justice system”, adding that she would have been sentenced to the full three months but could not since Carter had no previous convictions.
Carter was taken to Bronzefield Prison. She now has a lawyer and is appealing the sentence.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-05-05 17:21:02
