Cork climate activist fined by UK court after being found guilty of aggravated trespass

21-year-old climate activist Orla Murphy was fined £284 for her part in the protest which blocked oil flow at a terminal in Essex. Picture: Elaine Livingstone

A Cork climate activist has been found guilty of aggravated trespass in a UK court after chaining herself to pipes at a major oil terminal in Essex.

Just Stop Oil activist Orla Murphy, 21, originally from Whitechurch, Co Cork, had been charged after a protest in April which blocked oil flow at one of the UK’s largest terminals at Grays in Essex.

Her team had argued the defence of necessity, that although activists knew they were doing wrong, their actions were necessary to prevent the much greater harm of climate catastrophe.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ms Murphy said: 

You know you’re breaking the law but you’re doing so to prevent a worse harm. You’re stuck between a rock and hard place basically. 

Ms Murphy referred to the harmful impacts of air pollution on people's health.

"Air pollution is killing people now in the UK, and making chronic health conditions like asthma worse, while internationally, every gram of CO2 going into the air is making droughts worse, making floods worse. 

"People are dying in the Horn of Africa due to successive droughts while floods have killed people in Pakistan and Nigeria."

Ms Murphy said the judge did not accept that the defence had proved the necessity for their actions. She said: 

He found us all guilty and fined us. 

Ms Murphy was fined £284 while other activists were fined up to £700.

Referring to the protest in Essex, Ms Murphy said: “It took [police] eight hours to get all of us down. I was the last one left up on the pipes.

“It’s mad that we’re now in courtrooms for trying to save the people we love. And court can make you feel so small and powerless. 

“But you have to remember that we all have power in different ways.

“In that action, we did stop the supply of oil.” 

Ms Murphy is aware that a conviction may prevent her from travelling to some countries.

“My life will never include going to the [United] States," she said. "But I don’t think my life is supposed to go somewhere where doing the right things will preclude me from going. If I do the right thing and then I’m not allowed to go there, that’s not the place for me.” 

Last week, Ms Murphy was in a Scottish court over a similar protest at an oil terminal in Clydebank.

She was previously jailed in Ireland after painting on the Department of Foreign Affairs in protest after she refused to comply with bail conditions which included being banned from Dublin.

She also put paint on the Department of Agriculture headquarters over inadequate action on the climate crisis.