Peterborough nurse acquitted after being arrested for blocking bridge at Extinction Rebellion climate protest

A Peterborough nurse who was arrested after blocking a bridge in London during a ‘Doctors for Extinction Rebellion’ climate protest earlier this year has been found not guilty of breaching a public order offence in court.

Anna Bunten, 46, a specialist nurse practitioner at Nene Valley Hodgson Medical Practice, was arrested on April 10, this year, after a group of around 20 health professionals blocked Lambeth Bridge, in London, to stage a protest over climate change.

The protesters, who were representing the climate activism group Doctors for Extinction Rebellion, wore their scrubs and displayed a banner which read: ‘For Health’s Sake. Stop Financing Fossil Fuels’ – calling for an end to UK government subsidies to fossil fuel firms.

Anna and six other protesters were arrested and charged of a breach of Section 14 of the Public Order Act, but were acquitted at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on November 15.

“We had a very clear message that there is a climate and ecological crisis and it is having an effect on our patients right now, which will continue and worsen in the coming years,” Anna, whose brother-in-law died of a condition related to air pollution, said.

"We came together because we have a trusted voice and we think the public have a right to know of the health implications caused by this climate crisis. We have a duty to raise these issues.

“We know that 90 per cent of cities in the world have unsafe air to breath, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – and Peterborough is no different.

“The risks are so great that people are turning to increasing amounts of protest and activism. The conversation needs to shift to what we can do to address these issues rather than closing down the voice of protest.”

Anna said the protesters were on the bridge for 22 minutes before a Section 14 was put in place and police gave them the option to either leave or be arrested.

“We believed that we didn’t have enough time to share the message of our protest and to exercise our human right to protest – which is fundamental to our democracy.

"It’s accepted that protests will inevitably cause some amount of disruption because otherwise it’s too easy to be ignored. It was a Sunday afternoon – we were not on a motorway on a Monday during rush hour.

“I think the police are in a difficult position, but it’s important that we hold the value of our democracy. How else will we raise our voice and concern if we see something happening which is unjust or immoral? We start getting to a very dangerous place if something that is inconvenient is shut down – we can’t close off inconvenient truths.”

Anna said that the UK Government needs to honour its commitment to United Nations’ (UN) Paris Agreement – a legally binding international treaty on climate change, which aims to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

“Predictions that this is an existential crisis, which could me the end of humanity, is the consequence of inaction,” she added.

“It sounds extreme, but if you look at the science it’s exactly the pathway that we are heading for.

“We care for our communities – and, as health professionals, prevention is always better than cure.”