Extinction Rebellion founder and all round loony Roger Hallam has been jailed for conspiracy to disruption of the road network, namely the M25.
The founder of Extinction Rebellion has been jailed for five years in what is believed to be the longest sentence for non-violent protest in the UK. Hallam was found guilty of conspiring to block traffic as part of a Just Stop Oil campaign on the M25 over four days of disruption in November 2022.
Four other activists were given four-year sentences for the protests, in which demonstrators climbed the gantry above the motorway and displayed Just Stop Oil banners.
The court heard that each of the defendants had recruited activists over a Zoom call to take part in the demonstration, which the prosecution said had caused economic damage of nearly £750,000 and cost the police £1 million.
Daniel Shaw, 38, from Northampton, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 34, from Derby, Louise Lancaster, 58, from Cambridge, and Cressida Gethin, 22, from Hereford, were all sentenced to four years in prison.
During the protests the activists organised height training and rehearsed a “blue lights policy” to let police pass.
The disruption allegedly caused more than 50,000 hours of traffic delay, affecting the journeys of more than 700,000 vehicles, and left an officer suffering concussion and bruising after he was knocked off his motorbike in traffic.
Judge Christopher Hehir said the fact protests were organised over a Zoom call, which was infiltrated by a journalist from The Sun, showed the protests were “intricately planned” and was “compelling evidence” of a conspiracy.
Passing the sentence, he said: “I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns are shared by many, but the plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.”
The five activists, who were dubbed by Just Stop Oil as the Whole Truth Five, were convicted by a jury of conspiracy intentionally to cause a public nuisance under section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, on July 11.
During the trial the judge had repeatedly tried to stop Mr Hallam, who was defending, from trying to lecture the jury on points of law, but he was allowed to discuss the threat of climate change and how it justified his actions at length.
Hallam, who has a long history of attempting to lecture people on topics he knows little or nothing about, finally had the stupid smirk wiped off his face as the Judge ordered him to spend the next five years behind bars.
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