Climate activists who broke into an oil depot to halt fuel deliveries spent hours glued to two tankers, not realising the trucks were decommissioned and had not been used for years.
Among the group of five was Tayport pensioner Julia Redman, 72, and student Alexander Cowtan, 28, of Fintry, Stirlingshire.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard the group gained entry to the site at 5am on July 19 last year, using bolt cutters to make an eight-foot hole in the fence.
They spray painted the windows and tanks of fuel delivery tankers and glued their locks.
They climbed onto oil tankers and glued themselves – or pretended to glue themselves – to them and lay down and sat on the ground, causing oil and fuel and lubricants distributor Certas Energy to shut down operations.
Hannah Taylor, 23, of Glasgow, 56-year-old Gavin Cheyne, of Portobello and Kate Prasher, 69, of Melrose appeared with Redman and Cowtan in court for sentencing.
They had earlier been found guilty of vandalism and criminal trespass at the site, in South Shore Road, Grangemouth, and were fined £840 each.
They all denied the offences but told the court they did not dispute the facts.
‘Defunct’ tankers
Cowtan, a PhD physics student, said: “Over the course of the day it became clear that the tanker I had glued myself to was, ironically, defunct and had been for two years.
“I had several conversations with the police and also with some of the employees.
“About 4pm I debonded myself from the tanker by peeling bits of glue off my hands and waited in the car park for the police officers to safely arrest me.”
IT professional Cheyne added: “The two tankers that we were next to had been out of commission for a long time – as we were told by employees who were trying to point out to us that our actions were ineffective.
“They said, ‘we don’t use these, they’re for training’, and I’d also note that the two tankers were in different livery – old branding – and I noticed that one of them hadn’t been taxed or MoT’d for a long time.
“The tankers that were in action were only sprayed on the windscreen.
“The action we took was peaceful and we were successful in shutting the plant down for a day.”
Eco-warriors given prison warning after oil firm protest
The five accused, part of climate change protest group This Is Rigged, said their plan was to “cause disruption to the fossil fuel industry and signal that time has run out”.
Taylor said: “A just court would prosecute Ineos [the refinery owner] rather than us.”
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon, said: “I appreciate you were protesting about climate change but you committed criminal offences which the court will not tolerate.”
He warned them further offences could see them jailed.
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