ROOM 3

International Community Centre

61b Mansfield Road

Nottingham NG1 3FN

I am sure that all readers of this blog will know about the collapse of the trial of the remaining six climate activists who were accused of planning to shut down Ratcliffe on Soar power station.



Notts Police Authority is the body that is supposed to 'oversee' the work of Notts Police. Its Chair is Jon Collins who is also leader of Nottingham City Council and has been known to feature in thes…

A by product of the work done to suggest that 553m metric tonnes of Carbon Dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere is the revelation that most of this coal lies so close to where people live. read more here.

This press release accompanies the publication of MOPG's 5th Briefing Note in support of the 500m Buffer Zone Bill and explains why those concerned about Climate Change should support the Bill.

The current case of Notts Police withholding evidence which may undermine their prosecution case is just the latest example of what could seem like deliberate policy.

Julia Hodson, Chief Constable of Notts Police, is demanding an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the collapse of the trial of 6 people charged following the pre-emptive arrest of 114 environmental campaigners.

MOPG's latest  Press Release emphasises a different aspect of the argument as to why Communities in England should benefit from a 500m Buffer Zone Law. It shows how many areas of England could be prone to opencast mining because local communities, unlike those in Scotland and Wales do not benefit from having a 500m Buffer Zone policy in operation.

The Met Police are facing serious questions and the threat of an investigation into the role of one of their undercover officers. PC Mark Kennedy infiltrated activist groups between 2003-2009. On Monday, the second trial relating to planned action at Ratcliffe on Soar power station collapsed after the prosecution offered no evidence. This is believed to be an attempt to conceal the extent of …

Today was to have been the beginning of a trial of a further 6 people arrested during the police Operation Aeroscope

The second Ratcliffe conspiracy trial, due to start today, has collapsed after defence lawyers demanded information on undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.

Guardian investigation reveals details of PC Mark Kennedy's infiltration of dozens of protest groups

A police officer who for seven years lived deep undercover at the heart of the environmental protest movement, travelling to 22 countries gleaning information and playing a frontline role in some of the most high-profile confrontations, has quit the Met, telling his friends that what he did was …

On Wednesday 5th January, the defendants in the Ratcliffe Trial were sentenced. The judge spoke highly of the defendants describing them as ""honest, sincere, conscientious, intelligent, committed, dedicated, caring"." Five were given community orders ranging from 18 to 90 hours to be carried out within 12 months. The remaining thirteen all received conditional discharges ranging from 18 months to…

Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Nottingham NG7 6HX

Directions: http://www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/map.html

A group in Leicestershire has produced evidence about the current and possible future locations for opencast coal mining.in England. In all it identifies 23 Current sites and 43 potential sites.The evidence is in the form of a two part review and it has been produced to support the arguments for the 500 Metre Buffer Zone Bill which gets its 2nd Reading in the House of Commons on 11/2/11.

Final statement from the Ratcliffe defendants: post sentencing

5th January 2011



The Judge described Ratcliffe power station activists as "honest, sincere, conscientious, intelligent, committed, dedicated, caring". That they acted with "highest possible motives".

The Minorca Opencast Protest Group has just published its 6th set of objections to UK Coal's latest plans to opencast the Minorca site near Measham in Leicestershire. These objections centre on the risk that working the site will threaten the River Mease Special Area of Conservation

This article summarises known information about Opencast / Surface Mining Applicationsin England over the period 2009 / 10 by indication where Applications have been successful, where they have been rejected, where applications are currently 'live' and lastly where applications are likely to be made.

Climate Camp Aotearoa sends a message of solidarity across the globe to the 20 climate justice activists found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass in the UK. The activists were among 114 people arrested in a dawn raid on Easter Monday last year against activists who planned not only to stop carbon emissions from …

After a 3 week trial and 3 days of deliberation for the jury, 20 climate activists were found guilty of conspiring to commit aggravated trespass today. The defendants were amongst 114 activists arrested at a Nottingham school in April 2009, on the verge of taking action to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. Over the course of the trial the jury heard evidence from a raft of expert…

Press release: Activists found guilty in Ratcliffe coal climate trial

As the UN climate talks finish in Cancun, and fail once again to come up with any legally binding framework to reduce emissions, the British legal system is still upholding business as usual. This can’t continue. Burning coal has no future.

14 December 2010



All 20 defendants are found guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Trespass at Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in April 2009.

Twenty climate activists who planned to shut down one of Britain’s most polluting power stations for a week were found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass today.

Monday 13 Dec 2010



10.00am and all back in court yet again.

Check out the 71st edition of Dissident Island Radio...

• London Rising Tide on Buy Nothing Day
• Anja's piece on the current massive student movement protests
• Sali from the ZAD campaign near Nantes, France, to stop an airport in their region
• Radical Childcare Collective in the US Bay Area
• Anarcha-feminist critical analysis from marchers during the Reclaim the Night 2010
• The Santa Belles discu…

10 December 2010



His Honour Judge Teare concludes his summing up and directions.

Activist speech on the Ratcliffe Trials currently being held at Nottingham Crown Court

Sophie Stevens speaking at the climate rally 4 Dec 2010

9 December 2010



Miss Felicity Gerry for the prosecution begins her speech to the jury.