ON THE RIGHT TRACKS

The eighteen activists who brought Bristol coal trains grinding to a halt in April (see SchNEWS 720) were in court last Friday (9th). Five walked out of the Merthyr Crown Court free with all charges dropped. But the other 13 pleaded guilty to Section 36 of a 149-year-old Malicious Damages Act.

The charges under Section 35, which carried a ludicrous maximum sentence of life imprisonment, were dropped. They will be sentenced on August 13th, when they will get a chance to explain exactly why they were justified in blockading a coal train.

This Sunday (18th), Bristol & Bath Rising Tide host an evening at Kebele Social Centre in Easton, recounting train blockades carried out by Bristolians over the past 30 years opposing social injustices from climate chaos to nuclear waste. Film, food and discussion from 6.30pm.

* See www.risingtide.org.uk