Cleared: Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

In an astonishing verdict, a British jury have freed six members of Greenpeace who caused £35,000 worth of damage because the jury have accepted that the threat from global warming justifies the actions which the six took.

Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.

The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and could encourage further direct action.

I think it is without doubt that there will be further acts of direct action, especially as Kingsnorth was merely the first of a new generation of coal-fired plants.

As coal produces more of the carbon emissions causing climate change than any other fuel, campaigners claim that a new station would be a disastrous setback in the battle against global warming, and send out a negative signal to the rest of the world about how serious Britain really is about tackling the climate threat.

But the proposals, from the energy giant E.ON, are firmly backed by the Business Secretary, John Hutton, and the Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks. Some members of the Cabinet are thought to be unhappy about them, including the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and the Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn. Mr Brown is likely to have the final say on the matter later this year.

The court appears to have given the green light to anyone who wishes to protest against the government going down this very unpopular route, by stating that any damage done, is done to prevent an even greater damage further down the road.

Speaking outside court after being cleared yesterday, Mr Stewart said: "This is a huge blow for ministers and their plans for new coal-fired power stations. It wasn't only us in the dock, it was the coal-fired generation as well. After this verdict, the only people left in Britain who think new coal is a good idea are John Hutton and Malcolm Wicks. It's time the Prime Minister stepped in, showed some leadership and embraced the clean energy future for Britain."

He added: "This verdict marks a tipping point for the climate change movement. When a jury of normal people say it is legitimate for a direct action group to shut down a coal-fired power station because of the harm it does to our planet, then where does that leave Government energy policy? We have the clean technologies at hand to power our economy. It's time we turned to them instead of coal."

I have to say I think Stewart has a point. The notion that a jury could condone criminal violence because they say it serves a greater good really does fire a warning shot across the government's bows and should cause a massive rethink within the walls of Downing Street.

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Tags: Greenpeace, Global Warming, Brown, New Labour