According to actress Lucy Lawless, she's won a major victory after a New Zealand judge issued her with a sentence for her involvement in a protest aboard an oil-drilling vessel.

The former Xena: Warrior Princess star along with seven other Greenpeace activists were each ordered on Feb. 7 to pay $547 and complete 120 hours of community service after pleading guilty to trespass charges earlier that day. However, Judge Allan Roberts refused to impose damages sought by Shell Todd Oil Services.

Lawless and the other activists climbed a drilling tower on the ship Noble Discoverer to protest oil exploration in the Artic. While spending a total of four days on top of the tower, Lawless blogged about her experiences during that time. Her actions temporarily halted the ship's Artic-bound journey.

"I'm blocking Shell's Arctic drillship because I believe passionately that renewable energy is the way of the future," said Lawless at the time of the incident. "We don't have to go to the ends of the earth to suck out every last drop of oil. Instead we need to smarten up and begin the transition to a clean, green, sustainable energy future and right now that means keeping Shell out of the Arctic."

The ship was chartered by Shell Todd and they were seeking reparations totaling $545,000 from the protesters. The attorneys for the protestors all agreed that the amount was too high. However, in his ruling, Judge Roberts said that Shell could seek those damages in civil court.

Shell Todd refused to comment on whether they would further pursue the case but in a recent statement, the company said:

"Shell Todd Oil Services has always supported the efforts of law enforcement to respond to this incident and to deter such activity in the future. That extended to supporting the Police's case for reparation. Our primary concern during the occupation in February last year was the safety of all concerned; the same value that continues to be at the heart of our business today along with operating in an environmentally sound manner."

Lawless said that she was glad to pick up litter, clean toilets or do whatever else that was a part of her community service and that she has no doubts about her involvement in the protest for it helped to shed some light about oil exploration in the Arctic.

"I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous," Lawless said.

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Protest