Southwark Crown Court sentenced Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam on Thursday to an unprecedented five years in prison. The court punished him for his conspiracy to obstruct traffic on the M25 motorway during the Just Stop Oil campaign over four days in November 2022.
The Court also sentenced four other climate activists for their involvement in a conspiracy to cause gridlock and obstruct traffic. The Court called their action 'fanaticism' and sentenced Louise Lancaster, 58; Daniel Shaw, 38; Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35; and Cressida Gethin, 22, to four-year terms.
Demonstrations are important in a democracy, but we should never forget that violence and disturbing others are illegal. The negative consequences of the traffic disruption were many and costly. Taking the law into one's own hands is unacceptable, even in the context of climate change. Sentencing the five eco-activists from the Just Stop movement to long prison terms is hard, but it is the right thing to do.