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, were convicted in the Dunedin District Court yesterday — three years after the incident.
The group was 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.
Mahalski told the Otago Daily Times outside the court after their sentencing that their arrest, and the subsequent legal drama, was done on purpose.
"We had already done this five times before, but in that one we decided ‘OK, we’re not going to move this time, we’re going to be arrested because we wanted to be’.
"We wanted to get a top-notch climate scientist into court — which we did — and we went for defensive necessity to save lives."
Mahalski said community service was nothing new to the group as everything they did was for the good of the community.
"As a whole, we did this as an act of community service. We knew we would face consequences and it was selfless martyrdom as far as I’m concerned."
One side effect of the group’s actions was stopping the excursion train from running, which they "did feel really bad about".
Most of the group was also associated with the "restore passenger rail" movement and previous protests had led them to believe there would not be a problem with other train traffic "going around on the other tracks".
"I would like to keep on apologising for the passenger rail, because I do feel really bad about that, we all do."
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.
The case differed from other prosecutions, he argued, because here, there was scientific evidence which proved the climate crisis was legitimate.
"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 the actions 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 500tonnes of coal bound for a Fonterra plant near Temuka and inadvertently causing the cancellation of the Dunedin Railways’ Victorian excursion to Oamaru.
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 yesterday 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.
