Another XR protestor conviction quashed at the Old Bailey

Tom Wainwright of the Garden Court protest team represented Helen Allen, whose conviction for Obstructing the Highway was quashed after the CPS indicated minutes before the hearing that they were not contesting the appeal. Despite having notified the CPS of the relevance of the Supreme Court decision in DPP v Ziegler to Ms Allen’s case over a month beforehand, the Crown Prosecution Service had failed to respond until moments before the appeal was due to begin. In addition, the defence had served evidence to demonstrate that Horseguards Road, upon which Ms Allen was arrested, was not in fact a public highway and therefore the offence was not made out in any event.