A Christian climate activist who glued herself to the entrance of a global coal company's annual AGM has walked free from court.
Angela Ditchfield was arrested after blocking the entrance to GCM Resources as it held its AGM last December.
She stood trial in London on Tuesday alongside Extinction Rebellion activists Amy Pritchard and Schulamit Morris-Evans.
The protest was held after a deal was struck between GCM Resources, formerly Asian Energy, and Power China to develop a coal mine in Phulbari, Bangladesh, and build a 4000mw power plant.
Around 30 protesters in total blocked the entrance to the AGM, preventing shareholders and GCM's head of corporate affairs, Brian Booney, from entering the building.
The protest spanned several hours before specialist police detached the protesters with solvents.
At Tuesday's hearing, the charge of aggravated trespass was dropped against the trio, but they were all found guilty of criminal damage. The court ordered them to pay £350 in costs and gave them 12 months conditional discharge.
Mrs Ditchfield, who pleaded not guilty, said she took part in the protest in solidarity with Bangaldeshi activists opposed to GCM's plans.
"As a Christian, I believe Jesus calls us to come alongside people who are oppressed and in need, just like he did," she said.
"I stand with the brave Bangladeshi activists who have been resisting this project for more than a decade, successfully so far.
"Yet the company continues to take investment from HSBC and other shareholders to try and pressure the government of Bangladesh to ignore local people and change their mind."
A report by the International Accountability Project says that the Phulbari coal mine threatens to destroy the homes, land and water sources of up to 220,000 people, while tens of thousands are at risk of forcible eviction.
Local protests have attracted thousands and sometimes turned deadly. In 2006, at least four people were killed and 200 injured when police opened fire on demonstrators.
In 2016, police killed four people at another protest against the coal mine.
Mrs Ditchfield, a mother-of-two, said that the mine would "bring so much more destruction and death through displacing communities and through climate change".
"One UK Bangladeshi activist recently asked me: 'how can people do such things - destroying the lives of whole communities in the only flood-safe land in the region?' I have no answer."
Baroness Natalie Bennett voiced support for the protests against GCM's coal mine plans.
"I am proud to stand in solidarity with campaigners in Bangladesh campaigning against the Phulbari Coal project, as well as in remembrance of those massacred in 2006 while standing up for their rights," she said.
"There should be no place in the London Stock Exchange for companies creating such immense harm to our environment and international community.
"We all need to take action to ensure we remain below 1.5 degrees of warming, and that includes the LSE. There is no place for open cast coal mining in the fossil fuel future this planet demands."
