The Just Stop Oil Heathrow redecorators have been sent to prison

Two Just Stop Oil supporters have been imprisoned after painting Heathrow airport. Their action was part of the international Oil Kills movement, which demands governments establish a fossil fuel treaty, to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Just Stop Oil: redecorating Heathrow

Phoebe Plummer and Jane Touil appeared before Judge Neeta Minhas at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday 31 July, after taking action at terminal five Heathrow Airport on Tuesday 30 July.

As the Canary previously reported, the pair painted the entrance hall to terminal five, as well as the departure boards in the departures lounge:

Cops predictably nicked them at Heathrow. They have been remanded to HMP Bronzefield until 28 August at Isleworth Crown Court, where they will appear for a case management hearing.

At Heathrow, the pair used fire extinguishers to spray water-based paint at the departure boards in the terminal. The Crown is alleging £50,000 worth of damages.

During the hearing Phoebe said to the judge:

Sending peaceful protestors like me to prison isn’t going to prevent us from resisting. You’re upholding an abysmal system. And you’re doing that to maintain business as usual. You won’t be protected from the climate emergency.

Speaking after she painted Heathrow orange, Jane said:

I have become increasingly terrified about climate breakdown and increasingly appalled by politicians’ failure to take appropriate action. Convinced that the most effective thing I could do as an ordinary person was to take direct action to highlight the catastrophic situation we’re in, I became a Just Stop Oil supporter.

I was arrested for the first time in April 2022 and have been arrested several times since. I spent a short time on remand in prison after climbing an M25 gantry in November 2022. I will continue to act on my conscience to protect life and to challenge the greed, corruption and cowardice that are killing people right now. I refuse to die for fossil fuels.

Oil Kills – so the direct action won’t stop

Phoebe Plummer took the Heathrow action after being found guilty of property damage last week. This was for throwing soup at van Gogh’s Sunflowers in 2022. She had been advised to expect prison for this action at sentencing in September.

Just Stop Oil said:

As long as political leaders fail to take swift and decisive action to protect our communities from the worst effects of climate breakdown, Just Stop Oil supporters, working with other groups internationally, will take the proportionate action necessary to generate much needed political pressure.

This summer, areas of key importance to the fossil fuel economy will be declared sites of civil resistance around the world.

Featured image and additional images via Just Stop Oil