It's Oil Over: Just Stop Oil protestors sentenced for public nuisance
Madeleine Clarke - 29 July 2024
Five Just Stop Oil activists have received the longest prison sentences ever given in the UK for non-violent protest. Their offence was planning direct action to block the M25 across four days in November 2022. All five had spoken on a Zoom call to try to recruit activists to take part.
The M25, which encircles London, is the busiest road in the UK. During the trial at Southwark Crown Court, prosecutors alleged that the protest caused more than 50,000 hours of vehicle delay and affected more than 700,000 vehicles. They also suggested an economic cost of at least £765,000 and a cost of £1.1 million for the Metropolitan Police.
Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam received a five-year sentence, while four-year sentences were handed out to Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin. Until now, the longest sentences ever given for non-violent protest were also for Just Stop Oil protestors; Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker scaled the Dartford Crossing in October 2022 and were given three years and two and a halfyears respectively.
Just Stop Oil’s disruptive protests aim to force the government to acquiesce to their demand to end exploration for new sources of oil and gas in the North Sea. Their website states that, although the new Labour government has agreed to their call for no new coal, oil or gas projects, they plan to carry out more protests in the future. These will aim to pressure the government to sign a legally binding treaty to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
The group were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. The law concerning this offence – section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentence and Courts Act – was updated fairly recently, coming into force in 2022. The updated legislation introduced a new statutory offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance,” which put an end to the previous offence of common law public nuisance and carries a maximum sentence of ten years.
During the trial, the judge stated that, even though some of the group’s concerns over climate change were legitimate, they weren’t respecting the rights of their fellow citizens, democracy or the rule of law when planning and carrying out their protests. However, there have been suggestions that the long sentences might have turned the activists into victimised heroes of the cause. As such, the lengthy punishment has been met with criticism from several environmental organisations, protest groups and celebrities, who have raised concerns over the right to protest.