Restore Passenger Rail protests: Highway hand-concreter Rosemary Penwarden freed from custody after High Court appeal

Restore Passenger Rail Protester Rosemary Penwarden is escorted off by police with her hand covered in concrete. Photo / Azaria Howell

A grandmother who concreted herself to a Wellington road as part of a climate protest has been freed from custody.

Rosemary Penwarden, 64, was granted electronically-monitored bail at the High Court at Wellington today, having earlier been remanded in custody at Arohata Prison.

The Dunedin-based retired medical scientist turned climate activist has been involved in numerous protests with Restore Passenger Rail, which advocates for climate action and increased investment in public transport through civil disobedience.

On August 29, Penwarden concreted her hand to State Highway 1 near Kilbirnie and was charged with endangering transport. That afternoon, she appeared in court via video from Wellington Hospital where she held her hand in a bucket.

Wellington District Court judge Peter Hobbs declined her application for bail and remanded her in custody.

Penwarden was already facing prior charges and was on bail, the conditions of which prohibited her from engaging in illegal protest activity.

The protest group claims she is the first climate protester ever remanded in custody in New Zealand.

Her legal team confirmed to the Herald the day after her bail hearing that they were lodging a High Court appeal against the decision.

Typically, discussions had in bail hearings cannot be reported due to statutory publication restrictions under section 19 of the Bail Act.

NZME applied to do away with the restrictions saying it was of public interest, a request that was granted by Justice Christine Grice.

Penwarden’s lawyer Christopher Stevenson spoke of the increasing effect of climate change in New Zealand and across the globe, saying the actions of Penwarden in her protest were out of concern for humanity.

“New Zealand has a long history of provoking positive change through protest”.

He referred to a previous case involving another Restore Passenger Rail protester John Tovey, who was released on electronically monitored bail after a charge of endangering transport.

He said the Bail Act requires the least restrictive outcome and with a trial not likely until the second half of 2024, a prolonged remand in custody would be excessive and unlawful. He asked for electronically monitored bail.

The Crown opposed the appeal, with prosecutor Megan Paish saying Judge Hobbs did not err in his decision.

During the hearing, which Penwarden didn’t attend, an electronically monitored (EM) bail application was brought forward at Justice Grice’s request.

Regardless of the outcome of this High Court appeal, the EM bail application was to be heard in the District Court later this week. Grice instead considered the application herself.

The Crown did not oppose the application.

Grice did not detail at the end of the hearing if she had or hadn’t granted the substantive appeal, but she did grant the electronically monitored bail application put forward by Stevenson during the hearing.

Conditions of her bail include remaining outside of Wellington, a curfew requiring her to stay at home during rush-hour traffic and to not engage in further illegal protests related to Restore Passenger Rail.

A full decision on the appeal with reasons will be released in the coming days.

Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.