Five Just Stop Oil (JSO) protesters who created traffic chaos by blocking the M25 have been jailed for up to five years each. Roger Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action.
The five environmental activists organised protests blocking the M25 motorway for four successive days in November 2022. At Southwark Crown Court, Hallam, a JSO co-founder, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, while the other four were each given four years.
Judge Christopher Hehir said: “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.”
The defendants, referred to as the Whole Truth Five by JSO, shouted “we love you” after the sentences were handed out. They are thought to be the longest sentences ever given in the UK for non-violent protest, surpassing those handed to two other JSO demonstrators who scaled a bridge on the Dartford Crossing in October 2022.