Police are seeking more than $33,000 in compensation from two protesters who used a caravan to block access to the country's biggest gas hub in WA's north.
Elizabeth Ruth Burrow and Petrina Jane Harley have been found guilty in Karratha Magistrates Court of failing to obey an order given by an officer, obstructing public officers, and unreasonably obstructing or preventing the free passage on a path or carriageway.
The pair locked themselves to a pipe that was immersed inside a concrete-filled barrel within a caravan to obstruct access to the Burrup Peninsula near Woodside's operations on November 24, 2021.
They were demonstrating against the gas giant's $16.5 billion Scarborough gas project.
Specialist police were transported from Perth and other parts of the Pilbara to help remove the protesters.
Ms Harley and Ms Burrow tried to use an emergency defence, arguing their actions were justified because of a climate crisis caused by fossil fuel emissions.
Ms Harley told the court she was not a "serial offender" who was "seeking the thrill of arrest or attention" but wanted to stop climate change.
Ms Burrow maintained she was "not a crazy activist" and her "only option was to come up to [the Burrup] and take action against Scarborough gas".
Magistrate Cillian Stockdale said their actions "jeopardised" the community.
He said the demonstration could have caused harm, as the protesters blocked the only sealed road to the highly industrialised area.
Magistrate Stockdale sentenced the pair to a six-month community-based order, issued a requirement to complete 100 hours of community service, and fined each of them $600.
Much of the two-day trial focused on whether Ms Harley and Ms Burrow could physically remove themselves from the barrel.
The pair said by the time police had issued the move-on notice, their arms had swollen too much to self-release.
After police officers cut the top of the pipe, which Harley and Burrow had locked themselves to, they were able to release themselves.
Magistrate Stockdale said regardless of the swelling, it was clear Ms Harley and Ms Burrow's intention was to stay locked to the barrel for as long as possible, as they would not tell police officers how to remove them.
He did not find the situation amounted to an extraordinary emergency, as the protesters were not in "imminent danger", and even if they were, blocking the road did not amount to a reasonable response.
Compensation costs
Sergeant Leonie James said it cost more than $33,000 in flights and accommodation to send specialist police from around the state to help remove the protesters from the caravan.
Former Pilbara District Superintendent Kim Massam previously told the ABC the demonstration significantly drained their resources and endangered the public.
Ms Harley told the court it was the first time she had heard police would be seeking compensation and requested an adjournment for legal advice.
The matter has been adjourned until February 13.
