News / Bristol Magistrates Court
Four climate activists on trial in Bristol over abbey protest
Four Christian climate activists appeared in court in Bristol on Thursday charged with aggravated trespass following a protest at a historic landmark in Bath.
The members of Christian Climate Action, including a retired Church of England vicar, entered Bristol Magistrates Court at about 9.30am, while a group of supporters on Marlborough Street held placards and a large yellow banner reading ‘don’t crucify creation’.
It was the same phrase displayed on a banner the group allegedly unfurled from Bath Abbey after gaining access to a tower room and barricading themselves inside during a protest on September 13 in 2025.
is needed now More than ever
‘Don’t crucify education’
According to Christian Climate Action, the protest was part of a national campaign calling on the Church of England to “speak out more clearly about the climate and nature emergency and the forces driving planetary breakdown”.
Reverend Bill White, 71, from Macclesfield, Emma Ireland, 41, a mental health worker from Bristol, Stephen Pritchard, 66, a former parish councillor from Radstock in Somerset, and Kate Chesterman, 60, a retired university worker from Kent, all pleaded not guilty.
The trial continues.
All photos: Rob Browne
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