Since our last issue, Just Stop Oil has racked up five acquittals and seven convictions – and also claimed victory in their campaign to get the government to stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects. That is the policy of the new Labour government. Extinction Rebellion have a new prisoner, Amy Pritchard, as well as big plans for the end of August.
There seems to have been a large-scale pre-emptive police swoop, detaining 27 JSO activists on 28 June, as well as three high-profile actions. JSO disrupted the duke of Westminster’s wedding in Chester, sprayed the stones at Stonehenge, and spraypainted two private jets at Stansted airport, one of which might have been Taylor Swift’s.
A small victory came on 4 June when the high court in London decided that gantry-climbers Callum Goode and Tez Burns would not face any penalty or costs for allegedly breaching a National Highways Limited injunction. Justice Soole decided that they had not known about the injunction order when they carried out their action.
The latest JSO acquittals started on 5 June, when a jury at Guildford crown court found Louis Hawkins, Nathan McGovern and Rosa Sharkey ‘not guilty’ of causing criminal damage, despite the fact that they damaged petrol pumps at Clacket Lane Services on the M25 in April 2022.
The judge had ruled that legal arguments presented by the three to justify their actions should be ignored by the jury, as those legal defences have been removed by the government, but the jury still acquitted the three.
A second pair of acquittals came on 25 June when a jury at Kingston crown court found Patrick Hart and Samuel Johnson ‘not guilty’ of criminal damage exceeding £5,000 despite their having spread red powder paint on the rugby field at Twickenham (during a game) in May 2023.
The prosecution were unable to prove that the two activists knew that the Twickenham pitch could not be cleaned easily because it contained a layer of plastic grass, increasing the cost of removing the cornstarch.
As for convictions, Margaret Reid and Eddie Whittingham were given a total of 300 hours community service and financial penalties of over £1,700 by Sheffield magistrates’ court, on 10 July. They disrupted the world snooker championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in April 2023.
Clashes
On 11 July, five JSO activists were convicted at Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to cause public nuisance for planning to disrupt the M25 by climbing motorway gantries in November 2022.
Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 34, Cressida Gethin, 22, Roger Hallam, 57, Louise Lancaster, 58, and Daniel Shaw, 38, were sentenced just after PN went to press.
Four of the defendants were arrested and removed from the court during the trial for continuing to speak about the climate crisis after the judge ordered them to stop.
On the first day of the trial, the UN special rapporteur for environmental defenders, Michel Forst, protested against the ‘arrest, very lengthy remand in prison and harsh bail conditions of Mr. Shaw as a result of his involvement in peaceful environmental protest to call for urgent government action concerning the climate crisis.’
Forst also expressed his concern at the possible illegality of the trial: ‘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.’
Forst attended the trial in person for two days.
11 people were arrested outside the court on 2 July for holding signs saying things like: ‘Juries have the absolute right to acquit a defendant on their conscience.’
When, a week later, more than 80 people held similar signs outside the court, the judge took no action.
XR prisoner
On 12 June, five women from Extinction Rebellion who ‘broke glass in case of climate emergency’ at the London offices of JP Morgan were sentenced at Inner London crown court.
Stephanie Aylett, 29, Pamela Bellinger, 67, Adelheid Russenberger, 33, and Rosemary (Annie) Webster, 66, were given a total of 45 months suspended sentences between them, plus a total of 330 hours of community service.
Amy Pritchard, 39, who has been sent to prison by the same judge before, was given a 12-month sentence reduced to 10 months due to overcrowding. She might be in until November, with time off for good behaviour.