Sentences for Activists Involved in M25 Disruptions Reduced Following Arguments of Conscientious Motivation

A group of 16 Just Stop Oil activists have successfully had their jail sentences reduced following an appeal. The protesters, who had been imprisoned for various disruptive actions, including blockading the M25, argued that their sentences did not properly account for their conscientious motivations behind the protests.

Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil, had initially been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in organising protests where demonstrators climbed on gantries over the M25 for four consecutive days. His sentence was reduced to four years after the appeal.

Four other activists—Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin—were originally sentenced to four years for the same protest. Shaw and Lancaster saw their sentences shortened to three years, while Whittaker De Abreu and Gethin’s terms were reduced to 30 months.

Gaie Delap, who had been sentenced to 20 months for similar protest activities, saw her sentence cut to 18 months.

The appeal also involved a wider group of 16 protesters who had taken part in various climate demonstrations in 2022. They argued that their trial judges had failed to consider the usual leniency typically afforded to acts of civil disobedience motivated by conscientious beliefs.

Documents presented in court highlighted that these were the only known cases of peaceful protestors being punished without any reduction for their motivations.

Danny Friedman KC, representing the appellants, pointed out that the original sentences for the four activists who led the M25 blockades were the harshest of their kind in modern British legal history. He warned that if the original sentences were upheld, it could mark a dangerous shift in how civil disobedience is treated in UK law.