Marcus Decker appeared at Taylor House First-tier Immigration Tribunal today, and won his appeal against the deportation order brought against him by the Home Secretary. [1]
In October 2022, Marcus Decker, a musician and environmental defender, joined Morgan Trowland in climbing the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford to demand that the government end new oil and gas projects. The peaceful action lasted nearly forty hours before they were brought down and arrested. [2]
Marcus was later sentenced in April 2023 to two years and seven months in prison, at the time, the longest sentence ever imposed in Britain for a non-violent act of protest. The demand at the heart of the action, that the government halt all new oil and gas licences and consents, has since become official UK policy. [3]
Under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, the length of his sentence automatically triggered deportation proceedings. The Court of Appeal later upheld the sentence in R v Trowland and Decker, a decision that has since been used as precedent to justify the routine imposition of harsh custodial sentences for peaceful protest. [4]
After serving 16 months and being released in February 2024 on tag and still having to report to the Home Office every day, Marcus, a German citizen, faced a second punishment – the threat of deportation – that would have separated him from his partner and two stepchildren in the UK. [5]
Today’s hearing marks the first time the tribunal has considered the appeal against the deportation order served over two years ago. The Home Office representative interrogated Marcus about his ability to live abroad, including in countries where he didn’t speak the official language, insinuating that his partner Holly would ‘not find it difficult’ moving to Germany without speaking any German. He argued that because English education in Germany is among the best within Europe, Holly’s and her children’s inability to speak German wouldn’t be a problem if they were to relocate. He suggested to Holly that she could learn German within months of arriving and that her children could visit their biological father ‘every now and then.’ Against established legal authority, the Home Office lawyer also argued that the deportation does not trigger Articles 10 and 11 of the ECHR ‘at all’.
After the hearing, Marcus commented, “After an intense day of legal proceedings and an hour of harrowing cross-examination for both my partner Holly and me, I’m deeply relieved that we’ve won today! I feel this is a huge victory for the climate movement and for the laws protecting peaceful protest in this country as a whole. The judge’s level of confidence in unusually announcing the outcome immediately is a chink of hope in an environment of repression.”
Marcus’s case has drawn widespread support both in the UK and internationally. Two UN Special Rapporteurs, Ian Fry and Michel Forst, have expressed concern over the severity of his sentence and the ongoing deportation proceedings. Public figures including Baron Peter Hain, Sir David King, Rowan Williams, Juliet Stevenson, and George Monbiot have also spoken out against the deportation, warning that it sets a dangerous precedent for punishing peaceful dissent. [6]
The deportation order would have made Marcus the first person to be deported from the UK for taking part in a peaceful protest. His legal team argued that such action would be disproportionate, violate his right to family life with his partner and stepchildren, and further chill legitimate protest at a time of escalating climate crisis.
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.
[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-66367627
[6]
- Public march in support of Marcus- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-66367627
- UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, writes to the UK government- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0p6ll3jjgo
- UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders Michel Forst’s letter in support- https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/ACSR_C_2024_55_UK_Letter_of_Allegation_04.06.2025.pdf
- George Monbiot in support of Marcus- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/19/victimise-people-protest-britain-destroy-families-not-in-my-name
- 562 Actors and musicians condemn deportation of Marcus Decker- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/26/geldof-coleman-urge-home-office-to-reconsider-climate-activist-marcus-decker-deportation
- Nobel Laureates oppose the deportation of Marcus Decker- https://docs.google.com/document/d/16uNFxq8yI3S-TCPl3NbX9Snf8yGHSZEUXD8rvngmh7g/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.bkanei4uld1f
- Actors and academics criticise UK over climate ‘madness’ and limits on protest- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/24/actors-and-academics-criticise-uk-over-climate-madness-and-limits-on-protest
Comments from supporters
- Baron Peter Hain:
“It is difficult to see how the further step of deportation can be justified. That seems to me to cross a line and become unnecessarily punitive. It protects against nothing, because there is nothing more against which to protect.” - Former chief scientific advisor to the UK government Sir David King:
“In my view, their [Marcus’s and Morgan’s] action was a reasonable and proportionate response in light of the escalating climate crisis.” - Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams:
“Deportation will reinforce the growing perception that environmental activism at the moment attracts excessively punitive sentencing and assimilates activists to terrorists.” - Rabbi Emeritus Jeffrey Newman:
“The original sentence was harsh. The threat of deportation borders on the barbaric.” - Actress Juliet Stevenson CBE:
“In Marcus’s case he has made a profound relationship with Holly’s children, and has long since become an integral member of their family. […] I believe that to remove from them […] a father figure in their lives would do them untold harm, and cause unnecessary anguish and abandonment. They have done nothing to deserve this – let’s not punish the children.” - Journalist and author George Monbiot:
“To deport Marcus would be cruel, disproportionate and contrary to justice. Already he has suffered what I see as a massively disproportionate jail sentence for a peaceful act of civil disobedience, that is part of a long and noble tradition of public protest.” - Professor of Medicine Hugh Montgomery OBE:
“Mr Decker’s actions were humane and important. They did not damage property. They did not harm or threaten.” - UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace, Professor Peter Stone OBE:
“The world does not need the UK to be drawn, by inactivity and silence, into supporting those who reject the almost unanimous opinions of the scientific community. It certainly must not be seen to be overreacting to peaceful protest, and breaking up a young family, by deporting Marcus Decker, an activist who could not stand by while extreme politics and financial interest lead us to potential oblivion.” - Professor Patrick Doncaster, University of Southampton:
“Against [the] background of a still accelerating climate emergency, I applaud the collective and individual work of peaceful activists in raising awareness of fundamental issues amongst the electorate and elected governors.” - Bishop of Kingston Martin Gainsborough:
“I believe we owe a debt to the activist community for drawing our attention to the seriousness of the climate and ecological crisis and the need to change the way we live. These are prophetic voices. We may not realise this now but in years to come I suspect we will.”