Extinction Rebellion Co-Founder Jailed Over M25 Blockade

Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam at Isleworth Crown Court in London, dated April 5, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR) and four Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists have been jailed for causing “massive disruption” on the M25.

JSO protesters Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, as well as XR co-founder Roger Hallam, were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance last week.

Judge Christopher Hehir had warned that he would be giving them “long, long prison sentences” when they were found guilty by a jury on July 11.

At Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, Mr. Hallam was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment while the remaining four defendants were each handed four years’ imprisonment.

Last November, they blocked one of the busiest and most congested parts of the British motorway network by climbing on motorway signs criticising what they call the government’s “inadequate preparations” for climate change.

Just Stop Oil, a more radical offshoot of XR, is protesting government oil contracts and is behind a wave of illegal actions.

Zoom Call

All five defendants had joined a Zoom call on November 2022 in which discussions were held about the planned protests, based off “what was said expressly and what could be inferred,” and were aiming to recruit others for the protests on the call, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward told the court.

Unbeknownst to the activists, a journalist from the Sun newspaper had joined and recorded the call and passed it on to authorities.

Judge Hehir said the Zoom call showed “how intricately planned the disruption was and the sophistication involved,” and was “compelling evidence” of the existence of a conspiracy.

Handout screen grab taken from a video issued by Just Stop Oil of a group of their activists on July 20, 2022.

Judge Hehir added: “The plain fact is that each of you some time ago has crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.

“You have appointed yourselves as sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change.”

Addressing Mr. Hallam, the judge said: “You are the theoretician, the ‘ideas’ man. In my judgment, you sit at the very highest level of the conspiracy.”

In a statement, Just Stop Oil said that at the trial, “the five weren’t allowed to defend their actions in the context of the climate emergency.”

Injunctions

On the same day, three airports, Leeds Bradford Airport, London Luton Airport and Newcastle International Airport, were granted High Court injunctions against environmental activists protesting at their sites.

Timothy Morshead, KC, representing the airports, said activists from organisations such as JSO and XR posed a serious threat to passengers and there was a “real and imminent risk of disruption.”

He told the court in London that “one cancelled plane can produce a cascade effect” noting that if a flight is late it impacts on the staff that can operate it.

Mr. Morshead said “that is why chaos erupts” and that it makes airports “more vulnerable” because of the added security measures around its operations.

PA Media contributed to this report.