Two Just Stop Oil supporters were given suspended sentences today after pleading guilty to criminal damage by spraying paint on a number of high end car dealerships in 2022 to demand an end to new oil and gas licensing.[1]
On 26 October 2022, Emma Brown and Carmen Lean had sprayed orange paint from a fire extinguisher over the premises of several high end car dealers on Berkeley Square and Bruton Street, London – including HR Owen, Jack Barclay and Ferrari Mayfair. They had previously pleaded guilty to the charge of criminal damage and were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court today. [2]
Judge Tomlinson gave both defendants a 10 month sentence (suspended for 18 months) and ordered them to complete 100 hours of unpaid work within 12 months. In addition they have been ordered to pay victim compensation of £1500 each to the car dealerships for which the Judge has recommended a schedule of £50 a month.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“Politicians and the media may be distracted by the rising threat of war, but we know that this is nothing compared with the threat posed by the planetary heating equivalent of 365 million Hiroshima bombs being absorbed by our oceans and atmosphere every year.
“And yet nearly two years after our demand to end new oil and gas became government policy, three people are in prison right now for doing all they can to limit climate catastrophe and hundreds of our supporters continue to face the legal consequences of standing up to the fossil fuel death cult.”
The prosecution initially accused the defendants of drilling a hole in the Jack Barkley Bentley showroom window, though it was later admitted that they might not have. However it was argued that they had nonetheless caused paint to spatter inside the premises. The repair costs for clearing up the paint were said to total £13,538 and the window replacement was £19,925.
The Judge concluded it was unlikely that the defendants had made the hole in the window and so did not include window replacement costs in the calculation of compensation. He told the defendants that “the building looked all pretty ugly after your work.”
If convicted after trial, the defendants would have likely been sentenced to 12 months in prison, not necessarily suspended.
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] Action press release 26 October 2022 https://juststopoil.org/2022/10/26/day-26-just-stop-oil-sprays-high-end-car-dealers-with-orange-paint/