Rugby: David Pocock charged after environmental protest

David Pocock
David Pocock
Injured Wallabies flanker David Pocock has been charged by police after he chained himself to machinery at an environmental protest in New South Wales on Sunday.

The Zimbabwe-born 26-year-old, who has been sidelined for the last two years by knee injuries, was among seven protestors who chained themselves to equipment at a blockade at Whitehaven Coal Ltd.'s (WHC.AX) Maules Creek mine in the Leard State Forest.

All were granted conditional bail after arrest, New South Wales police said in a statement on Monday.

Police did not explicitly name Pocock in the statement, though they said a 26-year-old man from Canberra was due to appear in Narrabri Local Court on Jan. 14 next year.

Pocock plays for the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies and the Leard Forest Alliance, an umbrella group protesting the mine, told local media the former Wallabies' captain had been charged.

Whitehaven, which is on track to become Australia's biggest independent coal producer in 2015, is looking to speed up construction of the Maules Creek coal project so that it can start exporting early next year and bolster revenue in the wake of depressed coal prices.

Construction on the $A767 million ($US652.1 million) project is ahead of schedule and below budget despite a protest blockade that has been in place for more than two years. More than 280 people have been arrested, according to the protest group.

Add a Comment

OUTSTREAM