A CLIMATE change activist from Whiteparish who was part of a plan to shut down one of Britain’s largest power stations has had his conviction quashed.

Adam Weymouth, 27, of Meadow Court in Whiteparish, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass at Nottingham Crown Court in December and sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge, but on Tuesday the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of him and 19 other activists.

Mr Weymouth said: “It’s really nice to be vindicated and good to have that weight lifted. We have always maintained that we were not guilty and now we have the recognition.”

They were among more than 100 people arrested on April 13, 2009 when police raided the Iona School in Sneinton, Nottingham.

They had planned to trespass at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire, the UK’s third largest coal-fired power station, and shut it down for a week to stop 150,000 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere.

The activists appealed their convictions based on the fact the Crown Prosecution Service had failed to disclose crucial evidence which had been recorded by Mark Kennedy, an undercover policeman who had infiltrated the environmental activist group.

Mr Weymouth said: “The CPS said we were doing it as a publicity stunt, but Mark Kennedy had recordings he had made showing that we did believe we really were saving lives. We have always believed we were justified in trying to prevent emissions.

In a statement released after the verdict, the activists said: “Taking action on climate change is not an act of moral righteousness, it’s about protecting our future. History is full of examples of ordinary people acting to defend their rights and those of others, and we need a strong movement of people doing just that.

“Winning this appeal is just one small victory in the fight against the systemically political nature of policing. We stand in solidarity with all those have suffered injustice from the state or face oppression for daring to take political action."