Five Just Stop Oil protesters jailed for climbing gantries to block M25 📶🚔

[Christopher Hitchens]

Full Guardian Article:

“Five supporters of the climate activist group Just Stop Oil have been jailed for climbing gantries over the M25 in an attempt to cause gridlock on the motorway.

George Simonson and Theresa Higginson were sentenced to two years each, Paul Bell was sentenced to 22 months, and Gaie Delap and Paul Sousek were sentenced to 20 months for their part in the protests in November 2022.

A sixth defendant, Daniel Johnson, was given a 21-month sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

All six had pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance for their part in the four days of disruption on the M25 when supporters of Just Stop Oil had climbed multiple gantries over the M25, which encircles London.



They sought to cause maximum disruption in an effort to force the government into a ban on new fossil fuel exploration in the North Sea – a demand that has become policy under the new Labour administration.



Before the sentencing, Sousek said: “‘No New Oil’ was the demand from Just Stop Oil right from the start. Now most political parties agree and it has become government policy. How come we are being jailed for pushing for, what is now, government policy? Kafka couldn’t make it up!”

Delap said: “I’ve had to read the evidence of people who were stuck in our traffic, it hurts me. I’m sorry I had to do this. But we really have no other option. They didn’t listen to the scientists, they didn’t listen to their constituents, so we had to cause disruption in order to communicate the seriousness of humanity’s predicament.”

The jailings come weeks after five Just Stop Oil activists were handed record sentences for peaceful protesters after a jury found them guilty of planning the direct actions, which caused thousands of hours of delays to drivers and hundreds of thousands of pounds of costs to the economy and the police.

Roger Hallam, a founder of the group, was handed a five-year sentence, while four others were handed four-year sentences by a judge who told them they had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic”.

On Wednesday, two others – including one awaiting sentence for throwing tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery – were remanded to prison for taking part in protests at Heathrow airport in a call for an international treaty to phase out fossil fuels altogether.


Zelda and Link: https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/01/just-stop-oil-protesters-jailed-climbing-gantries-block-m25

 

[j.f.🔎]

 

[Gentenaar9000]

Why stop oil? We need that. These terrorist hate us.

 

[Sonnynerd022]

View attachment 807853

Full Guardian Article:

“Five supporters of the climate activist group Just Stop Oil have been jailed for climbing gantries over the M25 in an attempt to cause gridlock on the motorway.

George Simonson and Theresa Higginson were sentenced to two years each, Paul Bell was sentenced to 22 months, and Gaie Delap and Paul Sousek were sentenced to 20 months for their part in the protests in November 2022.

A sixth defendant, Daniel Johnson, was given a 21-month sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

All six had pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance for their part in the four days of disruption on the M25 when supporters of Just Stop Oil had climbed multiple gantries over the M25, which encircles London.



They sought to cause maximum disruption in an effort to force the government into a ban on new fossil fuel exploration in the North Sea – a demand that has become policy under the new Labour administration.



Before the sentencing, Sousek said: “‘No New Oil’ was the demand from Just Stop Oil right from the start. Now most political parties agree and it has become government policy. How come we are being jailed for pushing for, what is now, government policy? Kafka couldn’t make it up!”

Delap said: “I’ve had to read the evidence of people who were stuck in our traffic, it hurts me. I’m sorry I had to do this. But we really have no other option. They didn’t listen to the scientists, they didn’t listen to their constituents, so we had to cause disruption in order to communicate the seriousness of humanity’s predicament.”

The jailings come weeks after five Just Stop Oil activists were handed record sentences for peaceful protesters after a jury found them guilty of planning the direct actions, which caused thousands of hours of delays to drivers and hundreds of thousands of pounds of costs to the economy and the police.

Roger Hallam, a founder of the group, was handed a five-year sentence, while four others were handed four-year sentences by a judge who told them they had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic”.

On Wednesday, two others – including one awaiting sentence for throwing tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery – were remanded to prison for taking part in protests at Heathrow airport in a call for an international treaty to phase out fossil fuels altogether.


Zelda and Link: https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/01/just-stop-oil-protesters-jailed-climbing-gantries-block-m25

fucking arseholes dont even understand that by blocking the roads they build up traffic witch makes congestion making their efforts useless

 

[Dr Deacon]

Correct decision. However, they should have got 40 years each with no parole.

 

[Super Kirbo]

They should be forced to shoot a whale in the face and harvest its oil then club some baby seals

 

[Mr G]

Prefer to have seen them hung from said gantry.

 

[Bad Hippo]

I'd have prefered to see them get turned into paste on the M25.

 

[Christopher Hitchens]

fucking arseholes dont even understand that by blocking the roads they build up traffic witch makes congestion making their efforts useless

Never thought about it like that.

 

[Sonnynerd022]

Never thought about it like that.

you have a build up of cars and trucks and that all in nutural it still lets co2 put the exaust and that many cars on the road in lines apon lines it builds up in co2 congestion problem is you tell them that they call you crazy or wrong you cant win with eco warriors as they dont understand cause and effect

 

[montster]

Never thought about it like that.

They actively killed people by stopping ambulance and other services,I live on the m25 and they have lost all support because of stupid actions like this.piss off to China or India and protest.

 

[Christopher Hitchens]

They actively killed people by stopping ambulance and other services,I live on the m25 and they have lost all support because of stupid actions like this.piss off to China or India and protest.

Yea I knew that, I posted another article of two of the JSO people in court for something else. I was talking about when “making an example” basically using the law to deter actions, but I said that in cases like this it can be ok because of what you said. One person I most admire is Martin Luther King and he didn’t kill anyone in his protests and the were much more impactful and meaningful I think. But I do think that climate change is something to take seriously. I think that we should go to nuclear power and stop using all the coal fire and oil power plants in my country the USA. We are gonna need a lot of power and cheap for the electric or at minimum hybrid cars that we should move to in the future. It’s just a rational “next stage” in technology to me.

SOME of these young eco- activists talk like almost like religious zealots. They really talk like it’s the end of days if we don’t repent to nothing nature for the sin of globalization or some shit.

you have a build up of cars and trucks and that all in nutural it still lets co2 put the exaust and that many cars on the road in lines apon lines it builds up in co2 congestion problem is you tell them that they call you crazy or wrong you cant win with eco warriors as they dont understand cause and effect

Yea I understand it now. I just never thought of that but now that you mentioned it yea that makes sense so thanks✌️

 

[charlesleeeray]

Just shoot the bastards

 

[D.O.A.]

I'd have prefered to see them get turned into paste on the M25.

It would be a vegetarian paste the crows won't even eat

 

[wiggins]

They should be forced to shoot a whale in the face and harvest its oil then club some baby seals

They should be forced to do their community hours on an oil rig, blowing the workers...

 

[Grand Mal Caesar]

It would be a vegetarian paste the crows won't even eat

Regardless, they would be better for the world as paste.