Just Stop Oil: Celebrities condemn long sentences

More than 1,200 artists, athletes and academics have condemned the “injustice” of sentences handed to five Just Stop Oil activists for non-violent protests.

In a letter to the Attorney General, they called for an urgent meeting to discuss “the jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court”.

Roger Hallam, 58, was jailed for five years, and four others for four years, after being found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

It relates to a protest that disrupted the M25 in London for more than four days in November 2022.

The four jailed for four years were:

• Cressida Gethin, 22
• Daniel Shaw, 38
• Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35
• Louise Lancaster, 58

The jail terms are thought to be the longest sentences given in the UK for peaceful protest and exceed those handed to two fellow Just Stop Oil protesters for scaling the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge on the Dartford Crossing in October 2022.

High-profile people including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, musicians Chris Martin and Annie Lennox, and author Philip Pullman signed the missive.

UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk described the sentences as “deeply troubling”.

The signatories argue that the non-violent protesters were “fulfilling a necessary service” by “alerting the nation to the grave risk we all face”.

During the trial at Southwark Crown Court, prosecutors alleged the protesters caused more than 50,000 hours of vehicle delay, affecting more than 700,000 vehicles, and left the M25 “compromised” for more than 120 hours.

The court was also told the protests led to an economic cost of at least £765,000 – while the cost to the Metropolitan Police was more than £1.1m.

The open letter described the jail terms handed to the activists, dubbed the Whole Truth Five, as “one of the greatest injustices in a British court in modern history”.

“With prisons at breaking point and the new government acting urgently to address this, how can these sentences be seen as anything other than insanity?”

The issue of disruptive climate change activism such as the closing of the M25, and the legal consequences for those involved, is one that divides opinion.

A snap poll by the Social Change Lab, an organisation that describes itself as conducting and disseminating social movement research, found 61% of respondents believed the Whole Truth Five’s sentences were too harsh. It said 27% of those who took part felt the sentences were about right and 12% said they were too lenient.