15 activists to stand trial over alleged 'locking on' at Yorkshire's Drax power station
A court heard police from across the country were involved in the operation over protest activity around the Drax power station in North Yorkshire.
Fifteen activists have appeared in court over alleged plans to "lock on" at the UK's biggest power station last summer.
A court heard police from across the country were involved in the operation over protest activity around the Drax power station in North Yorkshire.
Twelve defendants were arrested on August 8 at Bentley Urban Farm in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and three were arrested on the same day on the A645 at Goole, East Yorkshire.
Between them they are accused of having items including climbing ropes, ladders, bolt cutters, glue, gaffer tape, metal poles and a map with Drax power station marked.
The 15 defendants appeared at Leeds Magistrates' Court on Thursday, where they each pleaded not guilty to a single charge of being equipped to lock on.
Elizabeth Irving, 23, from Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, Arlan Jones, 25, from Hackney, east London, and Rose Armitage, 22, from Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, are accused of having Reclaim The Power leaflets, tape, rope, a screwdriver and pliers with them, in a Suzuki Alto, at the A645 with the junction of Key Lane in Newland, Goole, approaching the Drax power station.
Shaunna Lee Rushton, 33, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Max Connor, 30, from Headingley, Leeds, and Simon Roscoe Belvins, 32, from Sheffield, are accused of having bolt cutters, angle grinder, glue, gaffer tape and metal poles in a Vauxhall Movano.
Laurence Wright, 18, from Oxfordshire, Huw Birch, 37, from Sheffield, and Philip Edward Ball, 54, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, are charged with having cable ties, climbing rope and planning notes in a rented panel van.
Rosalind Monaghan, 23, from Leyburn, North Yorkshire, Sean Irving, 26, from Hull, East Yorkshire, and Hannah Crowther, 25, from Hillingdon, north-west London, are charged with having a box of padlocks with keys, and long metal poles, in a panel van.
Joseph Henry Faire, 22, from Sheffield, and Adam Woods, 27, from Winchester, Hampshire, are accused of having metal tripods, ladders, metal poles, ratchet straps and a list of directions, in another van.
Heather Taylor, 22, from Shirrell Heath, Hampshire, is charged with having bolt cutters and an OS map with Drax power station marked on it, in a Ford Transit van.
District Judge Adrian Lower granted the defendants unconditional bail until their trial at the same court on September 22.
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