Just Stop Oil 21-year jail sentences are an obscene perversion of justice

In an obscene perversion of justice, five Just Stop Oil supporters were just handed multi-year prison sentences today for nothing more than attending a Zoom call.

Just Stop Oil sentences: perverse and obscene

At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Christopher Hehir jailed Roger Hallam for five years, whilst Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Louise Lancaster, and Cressida Gethin were each sentenced to four years.

They were convicted last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in relation to the M25 motorway disruption in November 2022.

They will join Amy Pritchard who was sentenced in June to 10 months in prison for breaking a window belonging to the world’s largest fossil fuel funder, JP Morgan.

The sentences exceed those handed down last year to Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker. They were jailed for three years and two years seven months, respectively, after being convicted of ‘public nuisance’ under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 for climbing the QEII bridge in October 2022 and suspending a banner saying ‘Just Stop Oil’.

The law – and Judge Hehir – are an ass

At last week’s trial, Judge Hehir ruled that climate issues were ‘irrelevant and inadmissible’, dismissing them as mere ‘political opinion and belief’.

Although the legislation includes a defence of ‘reasonable excuse’ and despite the prosecution acknowledging the imminent catastrophic and irreversible harm from burning fossil fuels, the judge prevented the jury from considering whether the defendants had a reasonable excuse and directed them to ignore any evidence about the climate crisis.

When the defendants insisted on honouring their oaths to tell the jury the whole truth about their actions and refused to leave the witness box until they had done so, the judge repeatedly had them arrested and jailed throughout the trial.

The judge also refused the defence request to call Professor Bill McGuire as a witness, one of the world’s leading experts on climate impacts.

‘Disgraceful’

Today Professor McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London, said of the Just Stop Oil sentences:

The trial and verdict were a farce. They mark a low point in British justice and they were an assault on free speech. The judge’s characterisation of climate breakdown as a matter of opinion and belief is completely nonsensical and demonstrates extraordinary ignorance. Similarly to suggest that the climate emergency is irrelevant in relation to whether the defendants had a reasonable case for action is crass stupidity.

Sir David King, the government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser, said:

This is so disgraceful. We are all hoping that the change in UK government will also change the situation in our courts.

Referring to a previous ruling of Judge Silas Reid that the evidence of the climate crisis was irrelevant and inadmissible in a similar trial, Professor James E. Hansen of Columbia University, New York, said:

The cruelty of such ‘know nothing’ judges is not so much to the defendant, as it is to our children and grandchildren.

The UN intervened – to no avail

On 24 June, the first day of the Just Stop Oil trial, the UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst, issued an extraordinary public statement, relating to one of the defendants, Daniel Shaw, describing the threat of a two year prison sentence as ‘appalling’ and potentially unlawful under international law:

I have now received new information regarding the imminent criminal trial of Mr. Shaw that I consider deeply concerning. With Mr. Shaw’s criminal trial set to start today, on 24 June 2024, I have been informed that Mr. Shaw may reasonably expect to face a prison sentence of up to two years (or more) for, in essence, his participation in a Zoom call to discuss a proposed peaceful environmental protest. The imposition of such sanction is not only appalling but may also violate the United Kingdom’s obligations under international law.

Judge Hehir was made aware of the UN Rapporteur’s statement prior to the sentencing.

Just Stop Oil will continue the fight

The naturalist and TV broadcaster, Chris Packham, issued a statement on X, referring to the court case as a “sham”, adding:

we should not allow our courts to be corrupted by [the might of the fossil fuel industry].

Today Packham appeared at court in support of the Just Stop Oil defendants, and is expected to make a public call for a meeting with Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC, calling for an end to the silencing and jailing of people who shout ‘fire’ because there’s a fire.

14,000 people have already signed Just Stop Oil’s petition calling for an end to the imprisonment of truth tellers. You can join them here.

Featured image via Just Stop Oil