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Today an “extraordinary” mass appeal begins at the Court of Appeal over the jailing of 16 supporters of Just Stop Oil for a combined total of 41 years.
The prison sentences of the climate protesters were imposed between July and September 2024. Those locked up include Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam and four co-defendants, for successfully planning to disrupt the M25.
The group, who were exposed by a Sun journalist, have been dubbed the “Whole Truth Five” by climate activists. Michel Forst, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on environmental defenders described their sentences as “not acceptable in a democracy”.
It comes as the Labour Government announced that it backs expansion of Heathrow airport, despite previously opposing it on climate grounds.
Those appealing also include 78-year-old grandmother Gaie Delap and four co-defendants who carried out the M25 gantry protest in November 2022, who received a 20 month sentence. Four JSO supporters with 18 month to 3 year sentences are appealing their conviction for digging and occupying tunnels under a road leading to the Navigator Oil Terminal in Essex in August 2022.
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Sentences on the “soup throwers” Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland are up in front of the Court of Appeal too, after they were sentenced to two years and twenty months respectively for throwing soup at the glass covering Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in October 2022. The painting itself was not damaged.
Their appeal will conclude on Thursday, with the outcome expected to follow within days or a few weeks.
On Thursday (30th January) at midday, on the second day of the hearing, the campaign group Defend Our Juries, will stage a “lawful and peaceful” protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice along The Strand in London. They will highlight what they brand the “wrongful silencing and jailing of the political opponents of the arms and oil industries.”
Over a thousand people are expected to take part, which would make it one of the largest protests against climate protesters’ imprisonment in Britain since 2019.
The protestors plan to stage a silent exhibition of images of political prisoners, past and present, from Emelina Pankhurst to Gandhi, Angela Davis to Martin Luther King.
Presenter and environment campaigner Chris Packham, actress Juliet Stevenson, former Green MP Caroline Lucas, and TV’s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are among the celebrities expected to make speeches outside court.
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All 16 Just Stop Oil supporters were jailed in the months following the publication of a report calling for further protest clampdowns, written by ‘independent Government adviser’ on domestic extremism, Lord Walney – AKA former Labour MP John Woodcock.
Woodcock is a lobbyist for firms representing oil and arms companies, as paid chair of the Purpose Defence Coalition, members of which include Leonardo, one of the world’s largest arms manufacturers, with “extensive links” to Israel’s military.
He is also a paid adviser to lobbyists Rud Pederson, clients of which include the oil and gas giant, Glencore. He was previously paid adviser and chair of the Purpose Business Coalition, members of which include fossil fuel giant BP.
The Met Police has threatened ‘swift action’ against anyone accused of breaking the law at Thursday’s protest – in a heavy-handed statement that critics say makes the climate campaigners’ point for them.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “We’re aware of plans for a protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice. Officers will be deployed in the area to ensure any incidents are swiftly dealt with.”
But a Defend Our Juries coordinator responded by saying: “We are planning a lawful and peaceful protest to highlight the repression of peaceful protestors under laws promoted by the arms and oil industries. The Met’s gratuitously aggressive language just makes our point for us.”
Calls for the Crown to Stop Prosecuting Peaceful Climate Protesters as Prisons Clogged and Criminals are ‘Let Off’
The Government is accused of pushing public bodies to go tougher on protesters
Ahead of the hearing on Wednesday, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson added: “Our broken political system is on trial today. This case is not about whether peaceful climate defenders deserve to be punished with long prison sentences. It is about whether it is acceptable in a democracy to allow wealthy fossil fuel executives to dictate our laws, pervert our criminal justice system and silence all opposition to their destructive and harmful business.
“Just Stop Oil supporters in prison are political prisoners. They are not there because they disrupted or harmed everyday people – if that were the case, the water company bosses, Post Office execs and those responsible for the Grenfell disaster would be behind bars…They are there because Just Stop Oil threatens the profits of the fossil fuel industry.”
The appeal will be heard by the most senior Judge in England and Wales, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Lavender and Mr Justice Griffiths. The 16 are represented by Danny Friedman KC and Brenda Campbell KC. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are supporting the group with written submissions to the courts and up to 1,000 supporters are expected to show solidarity by gathering outside the court today and tomorrow.
Prior to 2024, jail sentences for peaceful protesters were rare.
Lord Walney’s role is currently being reviewed by the Labour Government, amid a domestic counter-terror “sprint” review.
Just Stop Oil says it is undeterred by prison sentences and will be “stepping into action” again in 2025.
The Four Cases Under Appeal:
The Whole Truth Five
Defendants: Roger Hallam, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster, Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu
Convicted for: Planning successful disruption to the M25 motorway (‘conspiracy to intentionally cause a public nuisance’)
M25 Gantries Group
Defendants: George Simonson, Theresa Higginson, Paul Bell, Gaie Delap, Paul Sousek
Convicted for: Climbing onto M25 gantries (‘causing a public nuisance’)
The Tunnellers
Defendants: Larch Maxey, Chris Bennett, Samuel Johnson, Joe Howlett
Convicted for: Digging and occupying tunnels under Navigator Oil Terminal (‘intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance’)
Sunflowers Case
Defendants: Phoebe Plummer, Anna Holland
Convicted for: Throwing soup at protected Van Gogh painting (‘criminal damage’)
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