Audrey Cherryl Mogan of the Garden Court Chambers Protest Law Team represented the protestor, instructed by Rosie Worster of Commons Law.
Noah Crane was charged with conspiring to cause a public nuisance at Manchester City Airport, after purchasing four phones that were later found in the possession of his co-defendants. His co-defendants were convicted and remain in prison until sentencing in May.
Crane, 19 years old, was kept in custody since his arrest in August 2024, despite having only one previous conviction for aggravated trespass, a summary only offence. After almost six months in prison – the equivalent of a 15-month sentence of imprisonment – he was unanimously found not guilty by the jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
The case raises serious concerns about the ever-increasing use of remand for non-violent protestors. A growing number of individuals have found themselves in front of the criminal courts for offending arising out of non-violent protests, particularly since the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which introduced a number of new ‘protest related’ offences and sparked the ‘Kill the Bill’ protests across the country. With the ever-increasing backlog in the criminal courts and the overcrowding of prisons, the use of remand for non-violent climate activists – particularly for those who are young, with no or limited previous offending – is questionable at best.
The treatment of climate protestors has also drawn heavy criticism from international organisations and the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst.
