Caroline Lucas MP charged over Balcombe fracking protests

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has been charged following her arrest at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests last month. Nigel Pilkington from the Crown Prosecution Service South East said: “After careful […]

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has been charged following her arrest at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests last month.

Nigel Pilkington from the Crown Prosecution Service South East said: “After careful consideration, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to prosecute Ms Lucas for breaching a police order on public assemblies and willful obstruction of the highway.”

Ms Lucas said in a statement: “I firmly believe in the right to peaceful protest and remain deeply concerned about the impact of fracking on climate change and the wider environment.

The former Green Party leader added: “I have been advised by my lawyer to make no further comment at this stage.”

She will appear before Crawley Magistrates Court on the 9th October.

Cuadrilla recently announced it had finished its controversial drilling operations at the site in Balcombe.

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