A CLIMATE protester has had her jail sentence overturned and her fine slashed on appeal after she was arrested during Blockade Australia action in the Hunter.
Laura Davy, a 21-year-old woman from Tasmania, faced a hearing in Newcastle District Court on Monday.
She was one of more than 30 people arrested during a sustained campaign of disruption in the Hunter by climate group Blockade Australia in June and July.
Davy pleaded guilty to two charges and was originally sentenced in Newcastle Local Court to a prison term of three months, and hit with a fine of $1100.
She was granted bail pending an appeal the same day.
Judge Roy Ellis upheld that appeal on Monday and varied the order, sentencing Davy to a 12-month conditional release order, or good behaviour bond, and cutting her fine to $800.
Davy was charged with entering inclosed non-agricultural lands, serious safety risk; and entering or remaining on a major facility, seriously disrupting use.
Police were called after Davy secured herself to a coal reclaimer in Newcastle on July 7 as part of an illegal protest.
Blockade Australia said in a statement last month that a second protester that had been sentenced to jail, 21-year-old Samuel Gribben, had his one-month prison sentence changed to a six-month good behaviour order.
He was charged by police on June 27 after hanging off the side of Iron Bark Creek Bridge at Hexham in a bipod, blocking all train movements for more than eight hours.
