Andrew Sutherland in court. Photo: The Post/David Unwin
One member of the Restore Passenger Rail protest group has been found not guilty of endangering transport during protests against climate change.
After three days of deliberating, the jury found Andrew Sutherland not guilty, although it is yet to reach a verdict on three other members on trial.
Sutherland, Michael Apathy, Thomas Taptiklis and Te Wehi Ratana were charged with endangering transport in protests that brought rush-hour traffic to a halt on Wellington highways in October 2022.
The Crown submitted that on 10 October that year, Sutherland climbed a Bolton Street gantry and hung a protest banner above State Highway 1.
Prosecutors said protesters created unreasonable risk for themselves and others when calling for passenger rail services to be restored, but the defence argued the level of the risk had been overstated and was far outweighed by the much greater, existential threat of the climate crisis.
Jurors had been asked to assess whether the protest actions were reasonable. Deliberations on the remaining three verdicts will resume on Tuesday.
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