An 83-year-old grandfather from Bristol has been charged with obstructing a train after he took part in the Extinction Rebellion protests in London.
Retired probation officer Phil Kingston was one of six Christian Climate Action members who got onto the roof of a Docklands Light Railway train on Thursday, to round off the ten days of protest in the capital.
The grandfather from Patchway appeared at Highbury Corner magistrates court today, Friday, alongside other activists.
They included 60-year-old Diana Warner, from Bristol.
Suspected Banksy appears at Marble Arch after Extinction Rebellion protest
The activists held signs stating ‘business as usual = death’ and ‘don’t jail the canaries’, and held a prayer vigil on top of the carriage at Canary Wharf DLR station in London’s Docklands area on Thursday.
It is not the first time Mr Kingston has been arrested - last year he told Bristol Live how he tried several times to get arrested by blocking the road outside the Houses of Parliament, and he is a leading figure of the Extinction Rebellion movement, sharing the stage with Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg earlier this week.
He recently, when he was 82, explained his motivation to protest against inaction over climate change, and said he had been arrested 11 times - at the time - in a video.
While on stage with Greta Thunberg, Mr Kingston told the crowds: “This economy has to be replaced by a very different one - one with two aims: care for a regeneration of the earth, and the common good of all people with no one excluded.
“This must include those who we regard as our enemies.
"Be in no doubt we will be opposed by very strong forces. They have the power but we have something better: authority that is based on love and truth.
“My longing is for my grandchildren and their security. We are going to continue, we will build on it and others will follow,” he added.
Mr Kingston and Ms Warner add their names to the growing list of Bristol’s Extinction Rebellion activists who ended up being detained in London over the past ten days.
For a long time, the Bristol led action blocked Oxford Circus with a large pink boat, shutting down one of the West End’s busiest road junctions.
Activists from Bristol also took part in major actions on Waterloo Bridge and Parliament Square.
Among those arrested was a University of Bristol professor, Colin Davis, who Why I’d rather get arrested than keep quiet about climate breakdown any longer - by Professor Colin Davis explaining why he was prepared to be arrested.
After he was arrested here in Bristol for chalk spraying the Extinction Rebellion sign all over the south west regional headquarters of the Environment Agency.
Prof Davis said he had been released on police bail and not charged yet, but a couple of days ago, police revealed they had charged more than 70 people for the protests in London, including five from Bristol: Steven Melia, 56, of St Philips; Louise Treneman, 25, of Northcote Road, Bristol; William Cooke, 36, of Barton Hill; Emily Cox, 33, of Eastville, and Rachel Baker, 34, of Warminster Road, St Werburgh’s.
