Drax 15 case thrown out after £3m police operation

All charges against 15 people accused of ‘going equipped to lock on’ at a Drax protest have been thrown out on the second day of the scheduled two week trial at Leeds Magistrates’ Court for lack of evidence. Amongst the unconvincing evidence offered by the prosecution was string and duct tape as supposed examples of ‘going equipped to lock on’.

Drax 15: thrown out

All of the Drax 15 were pre-emptively arrested in a £3 million policing operation in August last year that involved 1,070 police officers from 39 of Britain’s 44 forces, as well as the seizing of accessible toilets, wheelchair trackway and tents. This happened in the same week police claimed their resources were too “stretched” to provide protection for asylum seekers being attacked in their accommodation by far right rioters.

The planned camp aimed to stand in solidarity with frontline communities impacted by Drax’s pellet operations and shine a light on the firm’s harmful operations abroad. These communities have repeatedly accused Drax of driving environmental racism, citing the severe air pollution caused by wood pellet production releasing hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds leaving community members relying on medical equipment to breathe [3].

The pre-emptive arrests form part of a broader pattern of the Starmer regime’s ever-increasing attacks on the right to protest in Britain. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders has warned that environmental activists face a “severe” crackdown due to the repressive legislative framework and the repeated police repression of pro-Palestine demonstrations has drawn widespread condemnation from the UN and human rights organisations like Amnesty International.

Phil Bell, one of the released defendants, said:

We were pre-emptively arrested under a law written by a right wing think tank bought and paid for by fossil fuel money. A law forced through Parliament by a Home Secretary from the Tory party bought and paid for by fossil fuel money.

It was misused by the police and then despite having no evidence the CPS for some reason pursued this ridiculous case. The original police operation was a shocking waste of taxpayer money. This preposterous case was a further waste of taxpayers money alongside our own and the courts time at a time when there’s a judicial backlog. But more than that it’s part of a strategic attack on our democratic rights to peaceful protest.

Whilst it is of course a welcome decision the question remains why was this absurd case ever taken this far.

Fellow Drax 15 defendant Laurie condemned the process against them as a ‘farce’:

The dismissal of our case today confirms without a doubt that this prosecution has been a farce. Throughout, police and prosecutors have acted only to protect Drax’s profits and suppress peaceful protest, and today’s decision is a welcome affirmation that the entire process against us has been a complete farce.

Drax Power Station, located near Selby in Yorkshire, is the world’s biggest woody biomass power station and the UK’s single largest carbon emitter. Drax sources power-generating materials from around the world, primarily the US, Canada, and the Baltic States. Its wood pellet production sites, predominantly located in communities deprived of environmental justice, emit large amounts of pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5 and VOCs which are linked to respiratory and pulmonary health impacts. Woody biomass is counted as carbon neutral by the UK Government, allowing Drax to receive renewable energy subsidies.

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