Buddhist teacher, 36, pulled from a Tube train by angry commuters during Extinction Rebellion protest is remanded in custody after breaching a previous order not to use the railway
- British Transport Police moved quickly to bring charges against XR activists
- Three men and two women have already been charged over Tube protests
- Mark Ovland who stood on a train at Canning Town is among those charged
An Extinction Rebellion protester who was pulled from the top of a tube train by angry commuters will spend tonight behind bars after he was remanded in custody.
Buddist teacher Mark Ovland was one of a group of activists who sparked fury among passengers at Canning Town station in east London yesterday morning.
It emerged today that the 36-year-old was subject to bail conditions forbidding him from using the rail network following similar protests in April this year.
Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard today that Ovland accepts that he had breached his bail conditions and he was remanded in custody ahead of further court hearings.
Buddhist trainee teacher Mark Ovland (left in left picture, and right) has been remanded in custody after he scrambled on top of a tube at Canning Town yesterday
Prosecutor Zahid Hussain: ‘Mr Ovland admits to breaching his bail. He accepts that he was at Canning Town Underground Station yesterday at around 6.45am. He admits that his presence puts him in breach of that particular bail condition from the court.’
But as he was remanded in custody, another Extinction Rebellion activist, privately-educated ‘poet’ Robin Boardman-Pattinson stood up and tried to address the court.
Boardman-Pattinson said: ‘I’m afraid I can’t hear this happen in this courtroom that a man of such good conscience is sent to prison.
‘He has stood up for so many people around the world. The real criminal in this is the Government and it’s inaction on the eco-side.’
Ovland was taken down while four others accused of offences over the protest were allowed to leave.
Earlier at the same court, three others appeared before magistrates; Father Martin Newell, 52, Reverend Sue Parfitt, 77, Margreit Bos, 32, from the Netherlands, and 83-year-old pensioner Phil Kingston.
They are all accused of taking part in rush hour demos at Shadwell station yesterday.
The four allegedly involved in the Shadwell protests were bailed to appear at Inner London Crown Court on November 19.
Extinction Rebellion protesters Martin Newell, Sue Parfitt, Philip Kingston and Margreit Bois leave court after Ovland was remanded in custody
Yesterday as Extinction Rebellion’s eco-protest entered its 11th day activists launched a co-ordinated strike on three London Underground stations, clambering on top of carriages and gluing themselves to doors despite Monday’s city-wide ban issued by the Met Police.
But their efforts to disrupt public transport were met with a furious backlash from commuters, industry groups and politicians leading one XR spokesman to admit the move had been a ‘huge own goal’.
Video surfaced from Canning Town station of a protester seemingly being beaten and kicked by angry workers on the station platform having been dragged bodily from the top of a train.
Another man, aged 35 and from Filton, South Gloucestershire, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the railway and has been bailed with strict conditions, pending further enquiries.
The police added that ‘enquiries continue in relation to the obstruction incident’.
At Stratford two men aged 32 from Lewisham and Hull were arrested for obstructing the railway. They have been bailed with strict conditions, while further enquiries continue.