A prominent anti-gas campaigner fighting to stop a Woodside Energy development has claimed victory after being found guilty of failing to give police access to his computer and phone.
Jesse Sandover Noakes, 34, pleaded not guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to disobeying four data access orders on May 12 and August 31.
The charges follow Noakes' alleged involvement in Disrupt Burrup Hub protest action at Woodside's annual general meeting in April and at the company's chief executive's home in early August.
Noakes admitted at trial to disobeying the orders but said he had a reasonable excuse for not doing so.
He said the devices held sensitive and confidential information from "sources" and sharing it with police could lead to dire consequences, including death.
But Magistrate Gavin MacLean wasn't convinced.
He said Noakes had failed to provide sufficient detail to back his claims and that some of his evidence appeared artificial.
"That generality, in my view, makes it very difficult for the court to arrive at the view that on balance, the proffered excuse is reasonable in circumstances," he said.
"I don't accept that Mr Noakes has proffered any excuse that objectively is reasonable in the circumstances and consequently Mr Noakes will enter the judgement of conviction in relation to each of these charges."
Magistrate MacLean also raised concerns about the precedent finding Noakes not guilty would set for police investigating other alleged offenders.
Noakes was convicted on all four counts and fined $1000 plus court costs of $137.
Outside court, Noakes claimed his conviction as a victory and said he had not and would not be giving police access to the information he held.
"I always knew this was the likely result of refusing to comply with WA police orders ... (and) I took that decision in full knowledge of the costs that might be incurred in order to protect vulnerable people who stood up to share their stories," he said.
"I think the primacy of protecting sources is one that I take very seriously and that everyone should take very seriously."
Noakes also reiterated his call for the ABC to not give WA police requested Four Corners footage of Disrupt Burrup Hub protesters allegedly involved in the protest action at the Woodside chief executive's home.
"I know the ABC has faced some cost-cutting in recent years, I do think that $250 is pretty small fry in order to protect the people who've decided to share their stories to tell important stories," he said.
Noakes has previously said he had been a "thorn in the side" of the WA government for a long time and he was surprised it had taken police so long to come for his devices.
Activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub has previously said the pair attempted to evacuate the building using non-toxic stench gas and smoke flares.
The group has called for industrial development on the Burrup Peninsula - about 30km west of Karratha in the Pilbara region - to be stopped, including Woodside Energy's expansion of the Pluto gas plant.
It has been involved in a series of high-profile protests against Woodside in recent months, including defacing Frederick McCubbin's famous work Down On His Luck at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
The Burrup Peninsula, known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains the largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs in the world.
