TWO Just Stop Oil supporters have been found guilty of public nuisance, after occupying the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge last year as part of the group's ongoing campaign against investment in fossil fuel projets.

Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker scaled the bridge on October 17 and remained at height for 37 hours, disrupting traffic as the bridge had to be closed closed for 41 hours. 

Both men have been held on remand in prison since the incident, and they each appeared before Judge Collery at Basildon Crown Court. Sentencing will be on 13 April 2023.

In the interim they will remain in prison.

The duo were removed from the bridge by specially trained officers on the afternoon of 18 October. Officers had trained on a specialist raised platform at Grays fire station before it was taken to the bridge.

They were tasked with working at height in the face of strong winds in order to bring down both men safely. 

 Once they were safe, both men were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and subsequently charged. They denied the charges and a seven-day trial was held at Basildon Crown Court.

During the trial, the court heard from dozens of victims who were impacted by the actions of Trowland and Decker.

 Those impacted included: 

 • A heavily pregnant woman who needed urgent medical help

• A child with additional needs who could not access his medication 

• One business lost a total of £24,000

• A person who missed the funeral of their best friend of 35 years

• A care provider lost £363 in earnings and could not provide essential care for patients  

• A business which lost between £160,000 and £170,00 in earnings 

• A clinical lead nurse could not make crucial child appointments

• A woman who could not access an important medical appointment and was in pain

Trowland, 40, a bridge design engineer of Drummond Way, Islington, said: "As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment."

"Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment. I can't challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I took direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge demanding the government stops all new oil."

Decker, 33, a teacher of no fixed abode from London, said: "Too many people in this country simply don't know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it. The authorities are criminally failing to get this grim science communicated. During Covid, the science was conveyed on a daily basis. Why isn't the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day?"

"Our political system is betraying the people of this country. More fossil fuel licenses means global genocide. Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow, who led our response to the incident, said: "The actions of Trowland and Decker were incredibly dangerous; for themselves, for the officers who were tasked with dealing with them and for the many, many people whose lives were disrupted as a result.

"We know they both saw – and continue to see – their actions as protest. They were not. Their actions were juvenile and dangerous. That behaviour should never be repeated.

"In order to bring them down safely, I had to ask a small group of officers to take on a really dangerous task; to work at significant height and in difficult weather conditions to bring down two people who had voluntarily put themselves at risk. 

"These officers deserve immense credit for their actions on 18 October last year in bringing that situation to safe conclusion."

Ch Supt Anslow added: "Since then, there have been a team of investigators working incredibly hard behind the scenes to build strong cases against Trowland and Decker and supply the Crown Prosecution Service with the evidence which has led to the conviction of both men. Their work has been tireless.

"The right to legitimate protest is not something we would ever seek to stop. We recognise that right and will always seek to safely facilitate it. But there can be no doubt that the actions of Trowland and Decker in October last year went far beyond that. It was criminal nuisance and greatly impacted many people.

"It was only thanks to victims coming forward that we have been able to show the impact on the public across those hours and we are very thankful for the people who have submitted their stories to us."