Activist sentenced in week-long trial (From Stroud News and Journal)

Activist sentenced in week-long trial

GREENPEACE protester Andrew Taylor has no regrets after being given 80 days' community service for scaling the walls of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's home.

And the 36-year-old, from Pitchcombe, has vowed to continue fighting for the environment.

The sentence was handed down on Friday by magistrates in Hull, where Mr Taylor and seven other activists climbed into the turrets of Mr Prescott's home during April's General Election campaign.

During the event, which hit national headlines, they erected solar panels and displayed a banner reading 'Oi, 2 jags! Hit targets not voters' in a bid to make climate change a higher priority on party manifestos.

Speaking to the SNJ, Mr Taylor, a Greenpeace member for four years, condemned the sentence and defended his action. "It will be 80 hours of my time well spent to have got the message out," he said.

"It was quite harsh for a peaceful protest but I accept it for the amount of good it did. The next day all parties held talks on climate change. We have brought about positive change and this is something I intend to carry on doing.

"I am disappointed to have been found guilty but I stand by my actions and Greenpeace as a whole stands by them."

Mr Taylor denied two public order offences for entering Mr Prescott's land without permission and refusing police demands to leave the roof, but was found guilty after a week-long trial.

The protesters also delivered low energy light bulbs and roofing installation in a bid to prompt Mr Prescott into improving energy efficiency at his home.

As Deputy Prime Minister, one of Mr Prescott's key responsibilities at the time was housing.

"The aim was to get climate change on the agenda but also to highlight hypocrisy within the Government," said Mr Taylor. "You have a minister putting in place targets for energy efficiency but the Government wasn't meeting its own targets and he wasn't personally either."