Six Just Stop Oil supporters who were denied all legal defences by the Judge, were found guilty of public nuisance at Southwark Crown Court today, after peacefully climbing gantries on the M25 in 2022, to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects.[1]
Cosmo Cattell, Adelheid Russenberger, Jane Touil, Andrew Dames, Clara O’Callaghan and Michael Dunk took action on the M25 on 8 November 2022. They were among scores of Just Stop Oil supporters, who climbed on gantries that week in order to sound the alarm about the government’s plan to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects against all expert advice. [2]
After an eight day trial before Judge Perrins, the six were found guilty of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance. Sentencing will be on 5th December.
During the trial the Judge ruled out all legal defences, including the statutory defence of ‘reasonable excuse’, as well as the defences of necessity, Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and implied consent. In ruling out the defence of reasonable excuse, Judge Perrins said:
“This is a court of law, not a court of morals. Even if you took the view that each defendant genuinely believed that they were morally justified in acting in the way that they did, that does not provide them with a defence to the charge of public nuisance.”
In a break from every previous Just Stop Oil trial for gantry actions on the M25, the prosecution refused to agree to any facts on the climate crisis to be included in evidence. Agreed facts exist precisely to establish the uncontested backdrop against which actions are judged, and in climate cases they frame the defendants’ motivations within the scientific consensus – by excluding them, the CPS is not only stripping away essential context but effectively denying reality itself.[3][4][5]
In his closing speech Cosmo Cattell, 27, a Philosophy Student from Somerset said:
“I want to make this very clear to the jury. Our intention and our aim was not to disrupt the public. Our intention and our aim was to prevent harm, to try and prevent the new round of oil licensing in the North Sea, which as I have said in my evidence I see as a transgression by the government of our rights to life.
“Only in this context does our action make any sense. We had to stop this harm. The prosecution has repeatedly asked us why we could not pursue legal routes, why we could not run for election for instance? I’m afraid we simply did not have time. We are already on borrowed time. This was, as acts of non-violent direct action should always be, a last resort. It was the only way we could think of to stop this massive harm from happening at a government level.”
Following the verdict, Jane Touil, 59, a visually impaired former crown servant from Rochdale said:
“Today I have been criminalised using legislation brought in by the last Conservative government to make effective protest illegal.”
Adelheid Russenberger, 34, a history PhD student from London said:
“The judge directed the jury that this was a Court of Law, not a Court of Morals, because no court of morals could convict us. I would rather be convicted in a court of law than to endure the shame of abandoning that basic moral principle of protecting life. I leave this court with my head held high.”
Clara O’Callaghan, 21, a recent graduate from Edinburgh said:
“I respect the jury’s decision to find us guilty, but I stand by my actions, I would rather be moral than lawful. When faced with the decimation of everything I love, and so much suffering across the globe, I might not be able to do much, but I refuse to do nothing.”
Michael Dunk, 71, a modelmaker and local councillor from Frome,Somerset said:
“I was privileged to be able to protest on behalf of my children and grandchildren and all those who were unable to do so. The policy of the government to issue new licences for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea was not compatible with the UK aim to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees. As Sir David Attenborough said: ‘if we don’t act now, it will be too late.’”
Andrew Dames, 63, a quaker, engineer and father of four from Cambridge said:
“We thank the jury, their hands were tied. Our government’s continued commitment to No New Oil, that we and the country asked for – that is all that matters“
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’ and on March 27th 2025 announced an end to the campaign of action. However, our supporters will continue to tell the truth in court, to speak out for our political prisoners and to help build what comes next.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
April 26th 2025 was the last Just Stop Oil action, but our supporters will continue to tell the truth in the courts, speak out for our political prisoners, and call out the UK’s oppressive anti-protest laws.
Just Stop Oil continues to rely on small donations from the public to make this happen.
[2] Just Stop Oil stops traffic on the M25 in multiple locations for the second day
https://juststopoil.org/2022/11/08/just-stop-oil-stops-traffic-on-the-m25-in-multiple-locations-for-the-second-day/
[3] In a previous conspiracy to cause a public nuisance trial for the same action ( R v. Hallam at Para 61), Judge Hehir said: “I think I can fairly observe that there is a general consensus, in both scientific and societal terms, that man-made climate change exists, and that action is required to mitigate its effects and risks. (…) I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns motivating you are, at least to some extent, shared by many.”
https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/r-v-hallam-and-others/
[5] In another gantries trial, the Crown admitted the 2020 Net Zero Interim Report, recording its conclusion: “Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. Without global action to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the climate will change catastrophically with almost unimaginable consequences for societies across the world.”
https://juststopoil.org/2025/03/19/six-just-stop-oil-supporters-not-guilty-as-m25-conspiracy-trial-scrapes-the-evidence-barrel/
[6] In the most recent gantries trial that concluded on 11 September 2025 in Guildford Crown Court, where all three defendants were found not guilty for the same M25 gantries action, the prosecution admitted into agreed facts that: climate change is an existential threat to humanity with catastrophic consequences; without urgent global action between one and two billion people could be pushed outside the human niche; global and national food security is at risk; up to four billion deaths are projected under certain climate scenarios; and the fossil fuel industry concealed the full truth about CO₂ impacts for 45 years.
https://juststopoil.org/2025/09/11/three-just-stop-oil-supporters-walk-free-after-trial-for-m25-gantry-action/