Usually staid Brits are increasingly losing patience with anti-oil activists after a court sent five of them to prison for what a judge called ‘fanaticism’.In November of 2022 ,‘Just Stop Oil’ protestors climbed gantries on Britain’s main M-25 highway in a bid to cause gridlock across southern England. The succeeded. So much so, Judge Christopher Hehir said Roger Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, had "crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.".The action resulted in chaos on the M25 over four successive days, causing nearly 51,000 hours of driver delays, the court heard.People missed flights, medical appointments and exams. Two trucks — ‘lorries’ — collided, and a police motorcyclist came off his bike during one of the protests while trying to bring traffic to a halt in a “rolling road block”.Prosecutors alleged the protests led to an economic cost of at least £765,000 (CAD$1.3 million), while the cost to the Metropolitan Police was put at more than £1.1m (CAD$1.95 million)..The group has gained notoriety for attempting to vandalize the original Mona Carta and throwing canned soup at priceless paintings.At Southwark Crown Court, Hallam was sentenced to five years' imprisonment while the other defendants each received four-year jail terms.The sentences are the longest since the introduction by the prior Conservative government of a new law of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, in a bid to clamp down on disruptive protests.Judge Hehir said the defendants were "parading their political views" by appointing themselves as "sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change.”The defendants were unapologetic and without remorse. Hallam said in a statement during the trial: “The corruption of our judges by the carbon state has crossed a line in the sand.”“This is an opportunity, and an obligation, to act. We only have a limited amount of time to halt the unimaginable horrors of climate and social collapse — and to save our democracy.”
