Three charged over Canary Wharf train roof Extinction Rebellion climate protests

The first people thought to have been charged over this week’s climate change protests in London are expected to appear in court later.

Cathy Eastburn, 51, Mark Ovland, 35, and Luke Watson, 29, are due before magistrates in the capital over their alleged involvement in obstructing trains at Canary Wharf station on Wednesday morning as part of the Extinction Rebellion protests which have disrupted transport services across London and in towns and cities across the country.

British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed the trio have been charged with obstructing trains or carriages on the railway by an unlawful act contrary to Section 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861.

Eastburn, of Gerards Close in Lambeth, south London, Ovland, of Keinton Mandeville, Somerton, Somerset, and Watson, from Manuden in Essex, are due at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court later.

British Transport Police continue to deploy additional officers throughout the London rail network to deter and disrupt further protest activity affecting the London Underground or other lines.

It comes as Londoners face a fourth day of disruption in the capital, despite nearly 400 arrests.

Some activists glued themselves to a train while others chained themselves to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s garden fence.