An 80-year-old vicar has been found not guilty in an Extinction Rebellion court case.
Last July, Rev Sue Parfitt, was found guilty of wilful obstruction, when she took part in a climate protest outside the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Britain's largest military site, in Abbey Wood in Bristol on December 2020.
She was ordered to pay more than £1,500.
Around 20 people blockaded three entrances to the complex, preventing dozens of MOD workers from entering.
Sue participated in the blockade by sitting in front of one entrances in her camp chair for four hours.
The protest took place on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement and followed the Government's announcement of a £24 billion funding boost for the Ministry of Defence, twice that allocated to tackling the climate crisis.
However, yesterday a retrial at Bristol Crown Court found Rev Parfitt found not guilty.
The court ruled that Rev Parfitt had a 'lawful excuse' for her peaceful protest and that her use of the road was 'reasonable.'
At the time of her initial trial, Rev Parfitt said: 'When I sat in the road leading to the MOD on December 11th I did so to protest at the government's decision to spend twice the amount on the armed forces and their equipment than on measures to slow down the catastrophic climate emergency we face.
"As a Christian, I am committed to bringing justice to those who suffer injustice in all its forms.
"That includes climate justice for those suffering the worst effects of climate change now.
"Justice is not served by the continuous upgrading of weapons of war, whose carbon emissions are not being included in the UK's carbon emission figures and which are significantly increasing climate change.
"We are facing an emergency and we have to use every means at our disposal to wake us all up and call attention to it."
After the ruling Rev Parfitt, a member of Christian Climate Action, said: "I feel very pleased, I think my guilty verdict in June was not right.
"Those of us who are resisting climate meltdown are not the criminals. As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last month, it is the failure of climate leadership that is criminal."
"We are facing an emergency and we have to use every means at our disposal to wake us all up and call attention to it."
After the ruling Sue, a member of Christian Climate Action, said: 'I feel very pleased, I think my guilty verdict in June was not right.
"Those of us who are resisting climate meltdown are not the criminals. As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last month, it is the failure of climate leadership that is criminal."