We are some of ‘The ‘Lord’ Walney 16’ – the sixteen peaceful people imprisoned for a combined 41 years for refusing to be bystanders to the most horrific crimes. We should have been 17. Xavi Gonzalez-Trimmer, our beloved friend, should have been with us. He will always be with us. Our sentences will be reviewed by the Court of Appeal on the 29th and 30th January.
We were jailed after ‘Lord’ Walney, lobbyist for the arms and oil industry, called for those resisting genocide, whether from carbon emissions or Israeli bombs, to face the harshest response from the government, the police and the judicial system.
The brutal sentences that followed his report were aimed at ‘deterrence’. They were designed to make us give up.
To be locked up in Britain’s cruel prison system, witnessing the violence and harm undertaken by the state against its own citizens is harrowing. But our resistance is not like the addiction to fossil fuels – a habit to be broken. It is the consequence of a profound commitment to nonviolence and the refusal to be complicit in the destruction of our fellow human beings and the poisoning of life on earth.
We can never give up. The state sponsored assault on our living planet gives us no choice. We will never give up.
And we call on you – all of you who know that what is happening is so wrong – to join us in refusing to be bystanders.
When and where: the Royal Courts of Justice, London, 29-30 January.
Anna Holland
Cressida Gethin
Daniel Shaw
Gaie Delap
Dr Larch Maxey
Louise Lancaster
Lucia Whittaker De Abreu
Paul Bell
Paul Sousek
Phoebe Plummer
Roger Hallam
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is committed to nonviolent direct action to resist the destruction of our communities as a result of climate breakdown. We do not consent to plans that will result in 3C of warming and mass death.
We demand an emergency plan to Just Stop Oil by 2030. Our government must work with other governments to end the extraction and burning of all oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on. We take all possible steps to ensure that no-one’s safety is compromised by our actions.
[2] Support the ‘Lord’ Walney 16’s mega legal appeal:
https://chuffed.org/project/120510-support-the-just-17s-legal-appeal-defending-protest-rights
[3] Timeline of Sentencing Inflation (and Deflation?)
The four sentencing exercises before the Court of Appeal, which took place between 18 July and 27 September 2024, represent an extraordinary bubble of sentencing inflation for protest offences. Preceding this bubble, sentencing for similar offences was generally non-custodial. Already there are indications the bubble may have burst.
Whether cause or correlation, the bubble follows the highly publicised call from Lord Walney in May for members of Just Stop Oil to be treated equivalent to organised crime groups. Lord Walney is a paid lobbyist for companies representing the fossil fuel industry.
18 December 2023
Dr Gail Bradbrook, Isleworth Crown Court – 15 month suspended sentence following trial, criminal damage, estimate £27,500, breaking window at Department of Transport
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67750538
5 April 2024
Roger Hallam, Larch Maxey, Isleworth Crown Court – 2 yr suspended sentence following trial, conspiracy to cause public nuisance, £1 million policing costs, convicted of planning to shut down Heathrow Airport
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68739970
Then …
May 2024
Lord Walney report: “Just Stop Oil should be treated like terrorist organisations, government-commissioned report says”:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/just-stop-oil-palestine-action-government-report-proscribed-organisations/
18 July 2024
Whole Truth Five, Southwark Crown Court, conspiracy to cause public nuisance, Roger Hallam 5 yrs, 4yrs for Cressie Gethin, Daniel Shaw, Lou Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, following trial:
https://juststopoil.org/2024/07/18/whole-truth-five-sentenced-to-4-5-years-at-southwark-crown-court/
1 August 2024
M25 Gantries, Basildon Crown Court, public nuisance, guilty pleas – George Simonson (2yrs), Theresa Higginson (2yrs), Paul Bell (22 months), Gaie Delap (20 months) and Paul Sousek (20 months):
https://juststopoil.org/2024/08/01/gantry-climbers-sentenced-two-years-in-prison/
6 September 2024
Navigator Tunnellers, Basildon Crown Court – conspiracy to cause public nuisance, Larch Maxey (3yrs), Chris Bennett (18 months), Samuel Johnson (18 months) and Joe Howlett (15 months) following trial:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy4vkl879go
27 September 2024
Sunflowers, Southwark Crown Court – Criminal damage, Phoebe Plummer (2yrs) and Anna Holland (20 months) following trial:
https://juststopoil.org/2024/09/27/sent-down-for-throwing-soup-judge-hehir-turns-state-repression-into-an-art-form/
Now…
4 October
Two just stop oil activists acquitted of causing criminal damage, after gluing themselves to Turner painting on basis damage to frame was a proportionate response to the climate crisis. Manchester Magistrates Court:
https://artreview.com/just-stop-oil-activists-who-glued-themselves-to-turner-painting-acquitted/
15 November 2024
Isleworth Crown Court, criminal damage to Worley HQ, community service orders following trial:
https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2024/11/15/extinction-rebellion-supporters-who-protested-pipeline-constructors-sentenced-as-15-ugandan-students-sent-to-maximum-security-prison/
NB. Lord Walney, although presented to the public as Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, is in fact a paid lobbyist for companies which represent the fossil fuel industry:
https://bylinetimes.com/2024/05/17/government-independent-advisor-who-backs-ban-on-climate-and-palestine-groups-has-paid-roles-with-defence-and-business-lobbyists/)