A RADSTOCK climate protester found guilty of trespass after occupying a Welsh coal mine insists she is “proud” of the peaceful protest, despite the group being fined more than £5,000.

On Thursday, 20th April, Radstock resident Ros Pears, 58, was amongst seven Extinction Rebellion activists found guilty at Swansea Magistrates Court for occupying the Aberpergwm coal mine in South Wales in July 2022, to highlight a new licence to extract 40 million tonnes of additional coal.

Pears - along with Michael Bastow (54), Stephen Jarvis (67), Dougall Purce (60), Jamie Russell (48), Sahrah Wilding (56), and Pam Williams (74) - was found guilty after a four-day trial on charges of aggravated trespass.

The judge has fined the group a total of £5,537.

The original action on 10th July 2022 saw around 60 Extinction Rebellion protesters peacefully occupy the site in the Vale of Neath on a Sunday, when the mine wasn’t in operation.

Five were arrested in the early hours of the morning and two the following day. The other protesters were allowed to leave by police.

Pears, 58, an organic gardener said: “I am proud of our peaceful protest at Aberpergwm coal mine last July.

“There should be no new coal mining in the worsening climate crisis we are all facing.

“The global scientific consensus is that there should be no new fossil fuel extraction at all and that we need a rapid and just transition away from coal, oil and gas.

“How many more dire warnings are needed about the future of life on Earth for us all? We’ve been told ‘Code Red for Humanity’ and that every year of insufficient action to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees drives us closer to the brink.

“The latest IPCC report describes the climate crisis as a ticking time bomb for the future of humanity. These urgent warnings need to translate into emergency action by governments and businesses around the world. Every coal mine is a part of that global picture.”

“The court may have found us guilty but that’s not how I feel. I’m listening to the warnings from experts around the world and engaging in peaceful protest to help raise the alarm for us all.”

Plans to expand the Aberpergwm coal mine were approved in January 2022. The new licence allows the mine to extract 40 million tonnes of additional coal, which will release 120 million tonnes of CO2 if burned.