Greenpeace activists convicted of public disorder

A British court on Thursday convicted eight environmental activists of public disorder offenses for their role in a rooftop protest at the deputy prime minister's home. The four men and four women, who were campaigning on behalf of the Greenpeace environmental group, were convicted of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior and contravening a police direction.

During a trial at Hull Magistrates' Court, the activists said they did not intend to cause any harm when they climbed on top of John Prescott's roof on April 26 and spent eight hours erecting solar panels. They claimed they were making a legitimate protest about the problems of global warming, the AP reports.

District Judge Frederick Rutherford told the protesters they had behaved disgracefully in refusing to obey commands of police officers who asked them to come down from the roof.

Rutherford ordered each of the defendants to do 80 hours of community service. A.M.