Judiciary have ‘pie on their faces’ after Just Stop Oil Supporters found guilty of wanting a future.

Two Just Stop Oil supporters were found guilty yesterday, Jan 31st, of Criminal Damage, in relation to covering a waxwork of King Charles in chocolate cake, at Madame Tussauds in London on the 24th October 2022. [1]

Eilidh McFadden, 20, a student from Glasgow and Tom Johnson, 29, a painter/decorator from Sunderland, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court. The pair were demanding the UK government immediately halts any new licensing or consents for the exploration and extraction of new fossil fuels in the country. Both have been fined £2000, with McFadden being sentenced to an additional 80 hours community service. [2]

Speaking after appearing in court, McFadden said:

“It is clear from the judges decision today, that the value of a wax person is held at a higher value than that of real people. This winter, there were over 13,000 excess deaths- deaths caused by an energy crisis fuelled by the greed and corruption of oil companies. This is occurring as millions in the global south have been displaced due to climate related disasters. Whether or not my actions were legally ‘proportional,’ they were morally proportional, and that is more important.”

These convictions come as an additional seven Just Stop Oil supporters appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court in front of Deputy District Judge Jackson, in relation to peacefully disrupting the flow of oil out of the largest oil terminal in the country, located in Grays, Essex, on the 6th April 2022. [3]

Six of the Just Stop Oil supporters were found guilty of aggravated trespass, with one found guilty of wilful obstruction of the highway. They included Rosa Sharkey, Rebecca Lockyer, Alexandra Mulvey, Oliver Stevens, Tez Burns and Rik Vanhoutteghem.

Speaking after the trial Tez Burns, 34, a bicycle mechanic from Swansea said:

“The judge withdrew the defence of necessity on the grounds that our actions were not taken to prevent immediate threat. 

This trial took place as if it were dark satire, with the prosecution claiming that the threat of serious harm from the climate crisis is not immediate or imminent.

The validity of the IPCC report was questioned, and we were accused of not knowing the cause of our protest.

Our democracy is broken. The UK government is breaking the law by allowing new fossil fuel projects. We must transition to renewable sources of energy immediately. As the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres said to global leaders at COP27 last year, “we’re on a highway to hell with our foot on the accelerator.”

Sentencing of the seven Just Stop Oil supporters on trial in Chelmsford, has been postponed till the 6th March 2023.

Since the Just Stop Oil campaign began on April 1st 2022, there have been over 2,000 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. There are currently nine Just Stop Oil supporters in prison awaiting trial or serving sentences for actions taken with the campaign.

We stand with these nine political prisoners, with the 1,800 victims of our broken criminal justice system imprisoned for over a year without trial and with the 1,700 murdered across the global south, for protecting all our lives. This is the moment for us to come together and resist the destruction of everything we love, something that is being imposed on us by a few, who only seek to enrich themselves. 

We’re done with begging. We are going to stop new fossil fuel projects whether those in power agree or not. As citizens, parents and children, we have every right under British law to protect ourselves and those we love. We are the last generation who can solve this. Will you step up? Join us and Just Stop Oil. [4][5]

ENDS

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Notes to Editors

[1] Press release from October 24th ’22- https://juststopoil.org/2022/10/24/day-24-just-stop-oil-cakes-the-king/

[2]  Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects. Climate Emergency Fund is Just Stop Oil’s primary funder for recruitment, training, and capacity building.

[3] Press release from April 6th ’22- https://juststopoil.org/2022/04/06/occupy-25-young-people-enter-a-critical-oil-terminal-to-just-stop-oil/

[4] Fair Trials reports that the number of people being held in prison without trial in England and Wales is at its highest for over 50 years, with 1,800 people in prison without trial for at least a year.

[5] A recent report from Global Witness says that more than 1,700 people have died while trying to prevent mining, oil drilling or logging on their lands.