‘Defend Our Juries’
Documenting the Campaign to Keep UK Courts Free and Fair
On 27 March 2023, retired social worker Trudi Warner silently held up a hand-written sign outside Inner London Crown Court in Southwark, where activists with the climate group ‘Insulate Britain’ were on trial. Her sign read:
Jurors you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.
The message referenced a sign inside the UK’s highest criminal court, the Old Bailey, which commemorates “the Right of Juries to give their Verdict according to their Convictions.” Warner was arrested, charged with Contempt of Court, and tried at the High Court. The case was ultimately thrown out.
In May that year, 24 people replicated Warner’s actions outside the same courthouse and were also referred to the Attorney General for Contempt of Court.
Since that time, the Defend Our Juries movement has continued to hold silent, peaceful demonstrations and vigils outside courts where activists are on trial for their actions.
In March 2024, five women with Extinction Rebellion were on trial on allegations of breaking windows at JP Morgan’s European headquarters in 2021.
After jurors entering the court building Judge Silas Reid warned them:
“It is a criminal offence for a juror to do anything from which it can be concluded that a decision will be made on anything other than the evidence.“