Cork climate activist faces UK court over protest at oil terminal

Orla Murphy, 21, said she was on the pipework at Nustar Clydebank oil terminal near Glasgow and was involved in the protest for 36 hours.

Just Stop Oil activist Orla Murphy, 21, originally from a dairy farm in Whitechurch, Co Cork, was in court over a protest at Nustar Clydebank oil terminal near Glasgow in May. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

A Cork climate activist previously jailed after painting on an Irish Government building in protest has been taken to court in the UK over her climate action.

Just Stop Oil activist Orla Murphy, 21, originally from a dairy farm in Whitechurch, Co Cork, was in court over a protest at Nustar Clydebank oil terminal near Glasgow in May.

Some 30 Just Stop Oil activists were involved in the protest which blocked access to the Nustar oil terminal in Scotland. 

Activists climbed on top of tankers and entered the oil terminal, sitting on pipes and silos to halt operations.

Ms Murphy said she was on the pipework and was involved in the protest for some 36 hours before she was removed.

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She has pleaded not guilty to charges of malicious mischief, a Scottish offence similar to criminal damage, and another charge under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 for not obeying police when she was asked to leave the premises.

Her case was an intermediary hearing in which the judge asked Ms Murphy and two other protestors whether they continued to plead not guilty to the charges.

They were also told that court was not the place for politics.

Earlier this month, on October 7, she was arrested at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool after paint was thrown on signage at the prison. She also faces criminal damage charges for this protest over the incarceration of fellow climate activist Louis McKechnie, who awaits trial at the jail after five people stormed the track at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone in July to demand that the British government stops new oil and gas projects. 

She has pleaded not guilty to this charge and awaits trial on January 4.

Just Stop Oil has been grabbing headlines internationally with recent protests, which have included throwing soup over Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers painting, which remained unharmed in the action.

On Monday, two more Just Stop Oil protesters threw chocolate cake in the face of a waxwork of King Charles at Madame Tussauds in protest at state inaction on the climate crisis.

One of these activists, Eilidh McFadden, 20, from Glasgow, was also involved in the action at Nustar Clydebank oil terminal near Glasgow in May.