Eco-activists insist they acted 'out of sacrifice' as they appeal 'draconian' sentences
29 January 2025, 17:03
More than a dozen eco-activists were handed jail terms which are "the highest of their kind in modern British history", the Court of Appeal has heard.
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16 Just Stop Oil protesters, involved in four separate actions and locked up for between 15 months and five years, are trying to get their sentences reduced, after claims their terms are disproportionate and unprecedented.
Their demonstrations, between August and November 2022, include climbing on gantries over the M25 and throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.
Outlining the appeal to the court, Danny Friedman KC, one of several lawyers representing the group, said their sentences are like nothing seen in historical actions of civil disobedience in the UK.
He said: “Living in what is a democratic society, there are going to be times of conflict. Times of what Martin Luther King would describe as times of tension.
“We’ve been in different waves at different times: Poverty and hunger; the march against fascists; the miners’ strike.
“But the point of it is that these people did not get the type of sentences when they were non-violent that we are talking about here.”
Read more: Police inspector sacked after comparing Just Stop Oil protesters to ‘special needs kids’
The Crown Prosecution Service is opposing the appeal bids, claiming the sentences were not "wrong in law".
Some of the activists joined the appeal hearing, which is due to last two days, by video link from various prisons.
Their lawyer told the court that they "did what they did out of sacrifice,” adding, “whether one likes it or not, it was for the interests of the public, of the planet, and of future generations."
Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion - another environmental campaign group - was jailed for five years for agreeing to disrupt traffic by having protesters climb onto gantries over the M25 for four successive days.
Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin each received four-year jail terms for their involvement in the same protest.
George Simonson, Theresa Higginson, Paul Bell, Gaie Delap and Paul Sousek were imprisoned for between two years and 20 months for their involvement in protests on the M25, during which they climbed onto gantries over the motorway.
Larch Maxey, Chris Bennett, Samuel Johnson, and Joe Howlett were jailed for between three years and 15 months after occupying tunnels dug under the road leading to the Navigator Oil Terminal in Thurrock, Essex.
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland were sentenced to two years and 20 months respectively after almost "destroying" Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers by throwing soup on its protective glass at London's National Gallery.
The court heard claims that harsh sentences, which are given for a deterrent effect, “are being taken too far”.
Danny Friedman KC said: “There is an unprecedented shift… There needs to be some care taken over deterrence.
“At the best of times, deterrence sentencing has no science and is difficult to prove its effect.”
But in joint written submissions, barristers for the Crown Prosecution Service said the sentences were "neither wrong in law nor manifestly excessive".
They said: "It is clear that the 'dialogue' or 'bargain' which merits leniency, on the one hand, is conditional on the protesters exercising moderation in the harm they cause on the other, so as to establish the necessary moral difference between them and 'ordinary lawbreakers'."
They continued: "Where offenders actively reject the 'bargain' by making clear they reject the citizen's obligation to obey the law and respect the rights of their fellow citizens by engaging in ever-more disruptive campaigns… and by stating their intention to continue breaking the law, a court would be justified in concluding there is little or no prospect of a successful dialogue preventing further offending.”
The hearing before The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Lavender and Mr Justice Griffiths is set to conclude on Thursday.
