Climate change protester Deanna 'Violet' Maree Coco avoids jail
A jail sentence imposed on a climate protester who blocked one lane on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a truck has been quashed. Deanna 'Violet' Maree CoCo, 32, was issued with a 12-month conditional release order on Wednesday after District Court Judge Mark Williams heard she had been initially imprisoned on false information provided by the NSW Police. CoCo and three others drove a Hino truck onto the Harbour Bridge in morning peak hour on April 13, 2022, as part of an environmental protest against climate inaction for Fireproof Australia. Climbing onto the roof of the vehicle alongside Alan Russell Glover, the pair lit orange flares and livestreamed the protest. Two others, Karen Fitzgibbon and Jay Larbalestier, sat on the ground in front of the truck and superglued their hands to the roadway. On Wednesday, Judge Williams heard an appeal by CoCo of the 15-month jail sentence imposed in the Local Court last December. He noted police had included a 'false fact' and a 'false assertion' in their case against CoCo that an ambulance with flashing sirens and lights had been impeded from crossing the bridge to an emergency because of the protest. With the jail term quashed, CoCo remains convicted for two charges of resisting police and using an unauthorised explosive. At the same time, Judge Williams heard an appeal by Glover, now 61, of an 18-month community correction order. The judge quashed convictions for Glover and imposed a 12-month conditional release order, hearing that this was his first criminal offence and the charges had resulted in him being stood down from working as a volunteer firefighter. Her conviction came after the NSW government passed laws to punish disruptive climate protests earlier in the year, with activists facing fines of up to $22,000 and two years in prison. Human Rights Watch researcher Sophie McNeill labelled Mr Perrottet's comments as 'unbelievable.' 'Unbelievable Dom Perrottet finds it "pleasing" a peaceful climate activist was given eight months prison time,' Ms McNeill wrote. Former Bachelor host Osher Gunsberg warning Mr Perrottet was on a 'slippery slope'. 'Protest is vital in a democracy, and considering what's at stake, the level of protest was probably not even close to an appropriate response. It is a slippery slope from here, sir,' the TV presenter wrote on Twitter.