Controversial record-breaking sentences for Just Stop Oil protesters have sparked outrage and legal appeals, and more trials are expected. Here’s the full story.
Draconian Sentences
Over the past few months, the environmental activist group Just Stop Oil has rarely been out of the headlines. The draconian sentences handed down to 5 protesters for staging a protest that temporarily blocked the M25 garnered significant criticism from environmentalists, human rights advocates, and legal experts.
Record-Setting Punishments
The sentencing of the 5 Just Stop Oil protesters, Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin, who have been nicknamed the ‘Whole Truth Five’ by environmental activists, is believed to be the longest sentences ever for peaceful protest in the UK. Hallam, the group’s co-founder, received five years, while his co-defendants were sentenced to four years each.
Widespread Condemnation
The sentences were met with immediate condemnation from across the political spectrum. Michel Forst, the UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders, attended part of the trial and condemned it as “a dark day for peaceful environmental protest.”
Alarming Precedent Set
He added, “This sentence should shock the conscience of any member of the public. It should also put all of us on high alert on the state of civic rights and freedoms in the United Kingdom. Rulings like today’s set a very dangerous precedent, not just for environmental protest but any form of peaceful protest that may, at one point or another, not align with the interests of the government of the day.”
Plans to Appeal
The lawyers representing the ‘Whole Truth Five’ are preparing to appeal the sentences, arguing that they are “massively excessive.” The appeal will likely focus on the disproportionate nature of the sentences compared to other criminal acts, particularly following the relatively light sentences given to many who took part in the recent far-right violence which rocked parts of England and Northern Ireland.
Moral Duty to Act
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson stated, “The Whole Truth Five, along with others, did the best thing they could, according to the evidence, to prevent catastrophic and irreversible harm to the public and life on earth.”
Public Figures Speak Out
The controversy surrounding the lengthy sentences given to the Just Stop Oil protesters has led to harsh criticism from a wide array of public figures, including actors, musicians, and TV presenter and environmental activist Chris Packham, who described them as a “direct theft of our freedom.”
Disparity in Sentences
Similarly, Dale Vince, a green energy entrepreneur and Labour donor who recently announced he would no longer donate to Just Stop Oil, has been outspoken in his criticism of the disparity between sentences for peaceful, if disruptive, environmental protesters and those for violent far-right rioters who took part in the pogrom-like race riots which recently swept the country.
“Two-Tier Sentencing”
Speaking to the Observer, Vince argued that, rather than the far-right’s unfounded claims of two-tier policing, a conspiracy theory which suggests that police give preferential treatment to the left-wing and ethnic minority protesters over far-right ones, the harsh punishments for environmental protesters instead represent “two-tier sentencing.”
Absurd Comparisons
Vince stated, “There was a guy this week who got three years for punching a copper in the face. He was photographed throwing bricks. [Just Stop Oil co-founder] Roger Hallam took part in a zoom call to talk about blocking the M25 and he got five. I think that needs to be addressed really. The difference between the peaceful protests and the rioting is chalk and cheese.”
Injustice Highlighted
He added, “It’s almost beyond belief that there would be any conflation or that you could get less for rioting than you can get for peaceful protest. Albeit highly disruptive – I accept that – they didn’t attack a police station. They didn’t burn down a library or set fire to police cars or injure a whole bunch of coppers. I think that’s absurd.”
Call for Sentencing Review
Vince has also called for a review of the sentencing guidelines under the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act (PCSCA), which many believe has unfairly targeted peaceful protestors.
Criticism of the PCSCA
The PCSCA, under which the ‘Whole Truth Five’ were convicted, has been criticised for its harsh penalties on public nuisance charges, which can carry sentences of up to ten years.
Extreme Overreach
This law, enacted in 2022 in response to protests by groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, has been labelled by civil liberties groups as an extreme overreach that curtails the right to peaceful protest.
More Trials Ahead
Other trials of Just Stop Oil activists are soon to take place. Jennifer Kowalski and Cole Macdonald, two Just Stop Oil activists who carried out a protest at Stansted Airport by spraying orange paint on two private jets, are set to stand trial in September 2025.
Further Protests
Both activists were charged with criminal damage and interfering with national infrastructure for the protest, part of Just Stop Oil’s ongoing campaign against fossil fuel investments and environmental degradation charges, which they denied at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Focus on Climate Catastrophe
The Just Stop Oil cases have focused public debate on the plight of environmental protesters who, through peaceful means, have been punished for ecological activism, which aims to raise awareness of the impending climate catastrophe.
Future Uncertain
With the appeals against the sentencing of the ‘Whole Truth Five’ moving forward, it remains to be seen whether the outcry following the record-breaking, draconian sentences handed down to the group will influence the recently elected Labour government to revisit the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act, which has been the target of such fierce criticism both at home and abroad.
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