Yesterday morning, two Extinction Rebellion Cambridge members – Marcus Lugg and Christopher Ford – were found not guilty of causing an alleged £28,000 of damage to Schlumberger (SLB)’s Cambridge fossil fuel research centre, which is situated on the University of Cambridge’s West Site. They had been accused of damaging the external shutters of the building by hitting them with drumsticks and lifting them up during a samba band performance at a climate protest in July 2020. The pair were then arrested along with three other people. At the Schlumberger Research Centre, on land leased from the University of Cambridge, Schlumberger develops new and improved ways of extracting oil and gas, producing technology which is then used by companies such as Shell, BP and Total to produce fossil fuels.
In Cambridge Crown Court, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) unexpectedly revealed that they intended to offer no evidence against the activists because they no longer thought there was a good chance of conviction. This resulted in the judge finding both of them not guilty. At this point, the case had been ongoing for almost three years. Lugg and Ford were initially charged almost a year after they had been arrested before being subjected to a Magistrate’s Court hearing, then a Crown Court hearing, and then having their trial set for November 2021, then February 2022, then June 2022, then November 2022, and then finally November 2023.
Lugg said: “I can’t believe this ridiculous case has gone on so long. I remember when I received the charge in the post accusing me of £28,000 of damage – my blood went cold. I couldn’t understand how I could possibly have caused that with a wooden drumstick weighing just 45g. Everyone around me thought that the trial was politically motivated to silence and scare us so that we wouldn’t go back and make more noise about Schlumberger’s relentless fossil fuel extraction and cosy relationship with the University of Cambridge.
“This experience has made me very happy to share the news that, since XR Cambridge started their Schlumberger Out! campaign in 2021, their open letter to remove SLB from Cambridge has had over 1800 signatures, including Sir Mark Rylance, Rowan Williams, and hundreds of local people and organisations. Before the campaign, most people thought SLB was a tech company and not the world’s biggest fossil fuel extraction company – they don’t think that anymore. It feels like SLB have backed down because of this increased public awareness.”
XR Cambridge’s Schlumberger Out! campaign has seen many protests since: the same SLB research centre has been shut down by blockades multiple times for multiple days; paint has been thrown over its front entrance; fake oil has been sprayed on the University of Cambridge’s main building, Senate House; the multiple Schlumberger studentships, scholarships, and professorships have been called into question by the University and have since not been renewed; and Schlumberger’s rating in the University’s red/amber/green system for working with unethical companies has been downgraded to red, meaning the University considers them a significant reputational risk and will not work with them in future. Other groups have also targeted the fossil fuel company, such as when activists from This Is Not a Drill smashed all of the front windows at the entrance to the research building.
The Schlumberger Out! campaign demands are to:
- Cut all ties: University of Cambridge stop collaborating with Schlumberger.
- Kick them out: Schlumberger out of Cambridge city.
- Repair the harm: Schlumberger stop profiting off planetary destruction and commit to climate reparations.