Protester, 69, committed contempt of court by using a sign to 'deliberately ... trends now
A protester committed contempt of court by 'deliberately targeting' jurors when holding up a sign outside a court ahead of a trial of climate activists, the High Court has heard.
Trudi Warner was arrested on March 27 last year for holding up a sign outside an entrance used by jurors at Inner London Crown Court.
She carried out the move before a trial involving members of the climate group, Insulate Britain, with a sign that read: 'Jurors you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.'
Senior government legal officers are now asking the High Court for the green light to proceed with legal action against Ms Warner.
They say the retired social worker was guilty of contempt of court due to her 'serious interference' with the 'administration of justice'.
Barristers for the Walthamstow resident argued today that her actions did not constitute an offence and claimed she merely acted as a 'human billboard'.
Ever since the Attorney General's Office announced its decision to take legal action against Ms Warner, campaigners have held placards outside every crown court across England and Wales in solidarity with the 69-year-old.
Trudi Warner was arrested on March 27 last year for holding up a sign outside an entrance used by jurors at Inner London Crown Court
Ever since the Attorney General's Office announced its decision to take legal action against Ms Warner, campaigners have held placards outside every crown court across England and Wales in solidarity with the 69-year-old
In his written submissions, Aidan Eardley KC, representing Solicitor General Robert Courts for the Government, said Ms Warner 'deliberately targeted' jurors and encouraged them to 'approach their task in a particular way'.
Speaking in court on Thursday, he said the incident was 'a confrontation with jurors, calculated objectively, and intended subjectively, to tell them how to go about doing their job'.
He added that the 'public needs to know' that they could perform their role as jurors 'without being bombarded with instructions from bystanders about how they go about that task'.
Ms Warner was seen on CCTV outside the court for around half an hour on the morning of March 27, the first day of the trial, but did not speak to any members of the public.
Later that day outside the same court, she joined a protest over
