A Green Party councillor and another Extinction Rebellion activist smashed doors and windows at a bank after becoming frustrated protests against fossil fuel investments were being ignored.
Norwich city councillor Amanda Fox, 52 and Jennifer Parkhouse, 71, are on trial accused of causing criminal damage at Barclays' branch on St James Court, Norwich, in April 2021.
King's Lynn Crown Court heard Parkhouse 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: Extinction Rebellion activists deny criminal damage to bank
The jury of 11, after one member had to be dismissed on the second day of the trial, heard both women accepted that they had caused the damage but argued that they had a lawful excuse.
Giving evidence Parkhouse said she “felt compelled to do it” because “years of being a conventional campaigner, going to meetings and signing petitions” had not persuaded shareholders to change the bank policies.
“It was obvious we were going to have to up the ante,” she said.
Fox said: “I could wallpaper this court with the number of letters I have written to MPs. Unfortunately, that doesn't get any attention.”
Both women admitted receiving training from Extinction Rebellion on how to carry out such a protest and what to do after being arrested.
READ MORE: Extinction Rebellion protesters arrested for smashing Barclays windows
John Fairhead, prosecuting, said the “theatrical and dramatic protest” had been designed to gain maximum publicity including tipping off journalists.
Asked whether she accepted Barclays' actions were legal, Fox replied: “Slavery was once legal. Beating your wife was legal. We hopefully move towards more enlightened views.”
In a character reference read in court, Father Richard Stanton, parish priest at St John Baptist on Timberhill in Norwich, said Fox was an active member of the congregation and a “person of profound conviction”.
“She is not a person to bemoan the state of the world without doing something about it,” he added.
The trial continues.
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