Since the CPS started its review on finalised cases charged under the Coronavirus Act 2020 (the Act) in April 2020 and up until February 2021, we found that all offences charged under the Act were incorrectly charged, and therefore discontinued because there was insufficient evidence to prove the offences under the Act. There were no cases where a suspect was convicted under the Act as of February 2021.
Extinction Rebellion trial delayed after defendant dons pink eye mask & GLUES HIMSELF to courtroom tableSee also:
The trial of climate change activists accused of blocking a roadway last year in Hertfordshire took an unexpected turn, after one of the defendants glued his hand to the dock and began lecturing the presiding judge.
Liam Norton and five other Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists have been charged with using vehicles and large bamboo structures to obstruct roads near the Newsprinters printing works in Broxbourne in September. The disruptive protest halted the delivery of an estimated 3.5 million copies of newspapers. The Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Times are all printed at the site. XR UK defended the civil disobedience, accusing the press of dividing and distracting people during a "climate emergency". Extinction Rebellion said it had specifically targeted Rupert Murdoch's newspapers because they were "polluting the national debate on climate change" and obfuscating other important issues, such as the refugee crisis.
At the opening of the case at St Albans Magistrates' Court, the 36-year-old put on a pink eye mask and began filming the proceedings on his iPhone.
"I would like to make clear that what's going on in this courtroom today is completely absurd," he said.
District Judge Sally Fudge called for his phone to be confiscated, to which Norton responded that it was glued to his hand. He had apparently glued his other hand to the table at which he was sitting, for good measure.
Despite protests from the judge, the activist continued with his speech, claiming he was compelled to disobey the court due to "decades" of "organised criminality in this country".
He further accused the UK government of showing "contempt for the planet", and challenged the judge and prosecutors to stop serving and defending "criminality".
After Norton had lectured the courtroom for about a minute and a half, a security guard appeared. Moments later, the phone was knocked from his hand, suggesting the glue had either not been very effective, or was non-existent.
The adhesive he had used to bind himself to the table seemed to have done a better job. According to the BBC, it took police two hours to remove him before the trial could continue.
The judge later condemned Norton for his "particularly disruptive" behavior and expressed her concern that he would likely try to halt proceedings again were he allowed back in court.
Gas stations along the Southeast coast are being slammed by panic buying and long lines amid the shutdown of the biggest oil pipeline in the US from a crippling cyberattack believed to be orchestrated by a Russia-based criminal group.
The closure of the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline, which carries more than 100 million gallons of fuel from Texas to New Jersey each day, has stretched into its fifth day.
It sparked wild scenes of panic buying across Georgia, Florida, Virginia and South Carolina — with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp even declaring states of emergency in their areas. Kemp also issued an executive order suspending Georgia's gas tax through Saturday to help offset the costs of higher fuel prices.
"I DON'T HAVE ANY GAS AND THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DOESN'T HAVE GAS!! WHAT IN THE 2021 IS GOING ON !!" one panicked driver tweeted.
Yasheeka Wiggin told CBS News that the "unbelievable" lines in Marion, S.C., left her thinking "it was a catastrophe coming!"
"I've seen all these cars waiting and I was like, 'OMG. I have to fill my tank up!'" Wiggin told the network.
Many motorists took to social media to share shocking scenes of massive lines at gas stations — often just to find no gas left.
Others shared images of panic-buyers filling up several gas canisters at once, with memes comparing it to the rush to buy toilet paper at the start of the coronavirus lockdown last year.
Tallahassee Democrat journalist Alicia Devine posted video of an "insane" line of cars waiting for gas in the Florida state capital — one of the few she found that even had any.
"I've visited five gas stations this morning and the Costco one is the first to have gas," she wrote.
"A Costco employee just told a car trying to get in line 'you'll have to find the end of the line. I don't know where that is.'"
In South Carolina, Greg Suskin of WSOC9 posted a video of cars waiting at a gas station that had completely run dry, saying that "people here told me they'd been to other stations and found the same."
When he finally found some, he said a station worker stuck an "out of gas" sign on his pump as he got the very last of its supply.
"Everyone's panicking," Citi Stop gas station worker Jessica Alcocer told the Citizen Times of the store in Asheville, N.C., that ran out Monday afternoon.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that the biggest problem was actually panic buyers draining supplies.
"People hear something and panic," Tiffany Wright, spokeswoman for AAA Carolinas, told the Citizen Times, insisting supplies were otherwise normal.
Still, one TikToker wrote, "They will try telling you that there is no gas shortage. NC, SC, FL, AL, AR, TN, KY, GA, and VA disagree."
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Comment: Never one to miss out on an opportunity to virtue signal, Tom Cruise is getting in on the action. From The Hill: Hollywood is slowly eating itself. Sit back and enjoy the show!