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Media assets: Photos and videos from trial | Photos and video from action in 2021

A judge at Kings Lynn court has called Barclays bank’s behaviour a disgrace after they failed to give information on the cost of damages on the local Norwich branch for over 2 years, having been requested by multiple members of the court. 

Amanda Fox, 52, and Jennifer Parkhouse, 71, were charged with criminal damage and pleaded not guilty. They argued that their action was justified in light of the harm caused by Barclays’ investments in fossil fuels. On Tuesday 8th August, a King’s Lynn jury found them guilty, bringing the trial to an end.

The trial was adjourned last Friday after the jury failed to reach a majority (10-1) decision. One of the jurors wrote to the judge indicating that they had felt intimidated by the behaviour of other jurors and did not feel able to do their jury duty in line with their oath. The court investigated possible impropriety in the jury room and the defence asked for the jury to be dismissed, however the judge found no cause for dismissal. The jury were then instructed to deliberate further and deliver a verdict. The guilty verdict was revealed on Tuesday afternoon, with sentencing to take place in November.

Barclays is Europe’s biggest funder of fossil fuels. Instead of reducing its fossil fuel investments after the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement that demands urgent and drastic reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that arise from burning fossil fuels, Barclays has continued to increase its funding for this industry.

When giving evidence during the trial, Amanda Fox said she was convinced that if employees and shareholders of Barclays knew of the full extent of harm caused by the extraction of fossil fuels funded by Barclays, “as presumably rational and moral humans, they would have approved [her] actions aimed at bringing greater attention to the harms being caused.”

Asked about Barclays’ conduct, she stated: “For two years and four months Barclays have been asked to disclose the cost of replacing a pane of glass. They were asked by judges and by a jury. They refused to disclose this information. Ultimately the cost of a pane of glass does not equal the value of a human life.”

Co-defendant Jennifer Parkhouse submitted photographs to the jury of when she attended COP6 in The Hague in 2000 as a campaigner. She told the court that she is appalled to acknowledge that the “very same messages on placards against fossil fuel extraction [she] held then are still relevant to COP28,” which will take place in the UAE later this year. She added that “conventional means of protests have failed to attract sufficiently widespread attention; the media are only interested in disruptive protest.”

Dozens of climate concerned supporters gathered throughout the trial at both King’s Lynn Crown Court and at the Barclays branch on Red Lion Street in Norwich. They carried placards saying “Barclays – Europe’s largest funder of fossil fuels” and “There is no planet B”.

From 2016-2022, the bank has given over US$ 190bn to companies active across the fossil fuel life cycle.[1] Despite claiming ambitions to become a ‘net zero bank by 2050’,[2] Barclays has given over US$ 55bn to key oil, gas and coal companies expanding fossil fuel exploitation in the period from 2016-2022, locking in future emissions.[3] Unlike a growing number of other banks, Barclays continues to fund even the most polluting of fossil fuels, including offshore oil and arctic oil and gas.[4]

On 13 April 2021 at 7.10am, when the building could be expected to be empty, Jennifer Parkhouse and Amanda Fox carefully cracked windows at Barclays and then sat down to wait to be arrested. The pair were wearing green and purple in tribute to the suffragettes who took direct action to campaign for women’s right to vote. 

ENDS

Notes:

[1] Rainforest Action Network, Banktrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oilchange, Reclaim Finance, Sierra Club & Urgewalt: “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”: https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BOCC_2023_06-27.pdf

[2] https://www.barclays.co.uk/sustainability/ 

[3] “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”

[4] “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”

Notes:

[1] Rainforest Action Network, Banktrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oilchange, Reclaim Finance, Sierra Club & Urgewalt: “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”: https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BOCC_2023_06-27.pdf

[2] https://www.barclays.co.uk/sustainability/ 

[3] “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”

[4] “Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2023”