On March 21st at Falkirk Sheriff’s Court, a supporter of This is Rigged and Just Stop Oil was sentenced to prison, while three others were given non-custodial sentences. This is the first prison sentence imposed in a Scottish Court, for nonviolent direct action taken in response to the unfolding climate crisis. [1][2]
Lewis Conroy, Sam Griffiths, Greg Sculthorpe and Jack Rennie had all pleaded guilty to reckless and culpable conduct for their part in a series of actions that took place at Grangemouth oil terminal on the 19th July 2023. Of the four, Sam Griffiths was handed a custodial sentence of 16 months, the other three being sentenced to electronically enforced curfews and community payback orders. [3]
Sam Griffiths, a Just Stop Oil supporter who took action with This is Rigged in 2023 said:
“I was scared about protesting at Grangemouth Refinery. I was more terrified about what fossil fuelled climate collapse will mean for my son. I still am. This and other actions show it is possible for ordinary people to stop oil, if only for a matter of hours. It is symbolic of what we need to do as a society to protect our children and their future. We all have a choice, to do what we’re told, or to act in line with our conscience.”
Sam Griffiths is being held at HMP Low Moss, hundreds of miles away from his son and family. Jack Rennie and Greg Sculthorpe both received 300 hours community service, and have both been placed on a six month 7pm to 7am tagged electronic curfew. Lewis Conroy received 200 hours community service. All the defendants were given two year supervision orders.
The four had climbed onto the pipework of the oil terminal, while 19 others also took action at the site, blockading the gates and disabling a car-park full of tankers. On the same day four people occupied the Nustar oil terminal at Clydebank for 40 hours. The two actions effectively shut down 90% of Scotland’s petrol supply.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“The punitive sentencing seen south of the border has now reached the Scottish Courts. Those who act to protect the public from the greatest public nuisance ever are receiving harsher and harsher prison terms, while the actual action needed to reduce the harm we face is lacking. The storms coming our way will get more and more powerful, the droughts will last longer and longer, the floods will be deeper and deeper, your family will suffer. Civil resistance is what ordinary people do when governments fail them, this is what Sam Griffith did.”
This is Rigged said:
“Fossil fuel companies are responsible for millions of deaths, it is they who should be held to account for their culpable and reckless conduct. Sadly our governments are enabling them to continue profiting from destruction. That is why ordinary people like us feel we have no choice but to put our bodies on the line.”
The Grangemouth action was the beginning of a three week sustained campaign in July 2023 by Scottish direct action group This is Rigged. The group’s demand, that the Scottish Government vocally oppose all new North Sea oil and Gas licences, was initially met, as the then First Minister Humza Yousaf came out against Rosebank and all future North Sea licences in September 2013 [4].
However, the SNP have since announced plans to fund the “first decade of independence” through oil and gas revenue, which This is Rigged have claimed demonstrates a “sincerely concerning misunderstanding of the severity of the impact of climate collapse.” . Out of 62 SNP MSPs 27 have backed Unite’s call for the Westminster government to halt plans to ban new licences [5][6][7].
This is Rigged have expressed solidarity with the Grangemouth workers and Unite’s ‘No Ban Without A Plan’ campaign, with members of the group attending the March For Jobs in Grangemouth last August [8].
This is Rigged have been taking action since the beginning of 2023 on the climate and cost of living crises in Scotland. Just Stop Oil have been in resistance since February 14th 2022 when the demand that the UK government end new oil and gas was issued – this has now become UK Government policy.
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] This is Rigged’s demands explained: https://www.thisisrigged.org/
[3] Grangemouth Blockades: https://news.sky.com/story/this-is-rigged-climate-protesters-block-gates-to-scottish-oil-sites-12923892
[4] The Standard: Humza Yousaf calls Rosebank the “wrong decision” for Scotland – https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/uk-government-scottish-scottish-government-humza-yousaf-first-minister-b1109823.html
[5] Storm Eowyn is not ‘once in a generation’ but the first of many
https://www.thenational.scot/comment/24886371.storm-eowyn-not-once-generation-first-many/
[6] In March 2023, a coalition involving 1000 North Sea workers have set out their demands for a fair transition. The demands focus on assurances of fair pay and job security, the removal of barriers that make it difficult to access jobs in oil and gas, and increased public ownership of energy companies.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23364087.oil-gas-workers-set-demands-just-transition-plans/
[7] The National: Campaigners attack SNP plan for oil to bankroll £20bn independence fund https://www.thenational.scot/news/24038685.campaigners-attack-snp-plan-oil-bankroll-20bn-independence-fund/
[8] This is Rigged are also demanding a fair transition for Scotland’s oil workers, in line with the demands of a coalition involving 1000 North Sea workers. The Scottish government has full control over the transition fund for Scotland’s oil workers, currently the money is being invested in unproven carbon capture technology as opposed to supporting oil and gas workers’ fair transition. Since TiR’s actions at Grangemouth, the closure of the refinery has been announced; “This is not a win: the refining is not stopping, simply moving someplace else. Just because we won’t be able to see it doesn’t make it any less deadly.” With no transition plan in place for Grangemouth workers, hundreds of jobs are put at risk; of the 500 workers at the plant, only a fifth are expected to be kept on.
