Police charge 77 over Extinction Rebellion newspaper protests

Protesters lock themselves on to bamboo structures outside the Newsprinters plant in Waltham Cross (PA)

Seventy-seven people have been charged by police over the climate protest targeting newspaper printing presses owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists blockaded factories in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, using vans, a boat and towers made of bamboo on Friday night.

The demonstration disrupted overnight deliveries of News UK’s titles The Sun and The Times, as well as The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, to newsagents across the UK as police struggled to clear the roads on Saturday morning. At least 80 people were arrested.

Home secretary Priti Patel described it as “an attack on our free press, society and democracy” and Boris Johnson said it was “completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way".

XR defended its actions, claiming that “the right wing media is a barrier to the truth”, and called on Mr Murdoch to "stop suppressing the truth about the climate crisis and profiting from the division your papers create". 

On Sunday Hertfordshire Constabulary confirmed 51 people had been charged with obstruction of the highway at the Waltham Cross site, which also produces the Evening Standard, Financial Times and several local newspapers.

Two of them were remanded in custody to appear at Luton Crown Court on Monday and the other 49 were released on bail on condition they do not go within 100 metres of the boundary of any Newsprinters Ltd premises or to attend XR protests in the next seven days.

Chief Superintendent Matt Nicholls of Hertfordshire Constabulary said: "People have a right to peaceful protest, however this was a carefully orchestrated blockade of a public road, designed to cause the maximum possible harm to local businesses.

"This was most certainly not lawful and not acceptable. In these circumstances, we will always seek to bring criminal charges against anyone who does this.

"The bail conditions forbid those charged from taking part in current protest events during the current 10 days of action on climate change."

Merseyside Police said it had since charged 26 people aged between 19 and 60 with aggravated trespass “following a protest at the News International premises” in Knowsley.

All were granted bail under the condition they do not enter Merseyside or contact any News International employees.

They are due to appear at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates' Court and St Helens Magistrates' Court on January 8 and 13 next year.

A third, much smaller, protest at another Newsprinters plant near Motherwell ended without any arrests.

Meanwhile the government has hinted that XR could be treated as an organised crime group under new plans to clamp down on its protests and increase police powers to prevent disruption to parliament, courts and the press.

XR responded to criticism from ministers by saying: "Our free press, society and democracy is under attack - from a failing government that lies to us consistently, is becoming increasingly authoritarian and is leading us towards four degrees of warming."

Additional reporting by agencies