Abigail Katrina Liddy, 46, Bruce Bertram Mahalski, 61, Fay Margaret Brorens, 66, Timothy Richard Musson, 54, Anne Margueretta Smith, 76, and Joanne Kathleen Sutherland, 56, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this afternoon – three years since the incident - after being found guilty of trespass following a judge-alone trial in July.
Smith and Brorens also faced a charge of obstructing a rail employee and were sentenced to 70 hours’ community work and 60 hours’ community work respectively.
The four others were sentenced to 40 hours’ community work.
They had each applied for a discharge without conviction today.
To achieve that outcome, a defendant must show the consequences of the conviction are out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending.
Counsel Thomas Harre accepted the potential effects for his clients were not "earth-shattering" but he argued the seriousness of the offending was low.
Ben Nevell, on behalf of the remaining defendants, concurred.
He stressed the intention of his clients was crucial.
"They genuinely believed they were going to save lives," Mr Nevell said.
"It decreases their moral blameworthiness" Mr Nevell told the court.
Judge David Robinson said it was apparent from the evidence heard at trial that the protest was "calculated conduct", planned well in advance.
It was clear the defendants’ actions were to "cause the most disruption possible to that train" but he said they were carried out in the safest possible way.
The judge also accepted the protest was altruistic at heart but said the ends did not justify the means if it meant contravening the law.
A conviction for each of the defendants was unlikely to have a substantial impact on their respective lives, he ruled, dismissing the discharge applications.
The members of Extinction Rebellion were arrested on December 4, 2021, after blocking a train carrying 500 tonnes of coal bound for a Fonterra plant near Temuka and inadvertently causing the cancellation of the Dunedin Railways’ Victorian excursion to Oamaru.
There were several people on the tracks outside the railway station and north of the St Andrew St level crossing, both in front and behind the train.
Other protesters climbed on top of carriages, the trial heard.
The area’s KiwiRail operations manager at the time, Jamie McFarland, told the court it was the 15th or 16th time he had responded to the group’s protest actions within a year.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond attended the scene and described issuing warnings to protesters both on the train and the tracks, some of whom were connected by metal devices.
Those who did not leave voluntarily were arrested.
Delays lasted more than three hours and three services were cancelled.
The coal train continued to its destination within the next two days.
There was some discussion today about the possibility of reparation for Kiwirail and Dunedin Railways.
At an earlier hearing the figure of $60,000 had been mentioned.
But prosecutor James Collins conceded he had little specific information to support a particular sum being ordered.
The judge said it was clear there would have been "considerable" financial losses, which may be recovered through civil proceedings.
He stressed in his earlier written ruling the lawful resources available to the defendants, including: petitioning Parliament, lobbying ministers or citizens-initiated referendums.
Carter Ross Andrew, 21, was earlier discharged without conviction after admitting his role in the incident.
