Three Just Stop Oil supporters who sprayed red paint over the Treasury in 2022 have been found guilty by a jury today. They took action declaring that the UK government had blood on its hands as a result of its plans to encourage new oil and gas projects in the UK and its failure to address fuel poverty. [1]
Alexia Hall, Selma Heimedinger and Edred Whittingham received a unanimous guilty verdict at Southwark Crown Court today for causing criminal damage in the action which involved spraying red paint from fire extinguishers onto HM Treasury building on 13th June 2022. The action which happened amid the 2022 cost of living crisis was prompted by the previous government’s approval of Shell’s Jackdaw North Sea gas field – a consent that has today been ruled unlawful by a Scottish court. [2][3]
The trio are due to be sentenced on April 4th. The maximum sentence of criminal damage over £5,000 in a Crown Court is 10 years imprisonment.
In the 10 day trial before Judge Rimmer, the Prosecution presented evidence that suggested that the damage to the HM Treasury building on Whitehall cost £107,000 to repair. However, an expert witness for the prosecution confirmed that the paint was water based and the apparently excessive cost was caused by having to work nights and to make several successive visits after new areas of paint were encountered.
The case hinged on whether the defendants could reasonably have expected or were reckless as to the consequences of their action. The defence case was that the defendants believed that the water based paint would be easy to clean and that they could not have reasonably foreseen that the water based paint would have caused such damage.
In giving evidence during the trial Alexia Hall explained her motivation for taking action which was “to draw attention to what the government was doing to approve new oil and gas fields, and that they were making people poorer because they should instead have been incentivising renewable energy. If I did nothing – that was not an option I can’t just watch while the world suffers water shortages, food shortages, heat waves, flooding – it impacts everyone’s lives, everyone’s children, but of course mine as well ”. She went on to explain that the action was intended to “save lives”.
However, the Judge ultimately ruled that their motivations for carrying out the action were irrelevant and he directed the jury to ignore all references to a lawful excuse.
Following the verdict, Selma Heimedinger, 25, a full time campaigner and director of a community interest company from Hampshire said:
“We are not guilty, the law is corrupt. The laws that are used to punish us were written by the fossil fuel lobby to stifle dissent. There can be no real justice until the criminals responsible for nearly 5,000 fuel poverty deaths in the winter following our action are held to account. They have blood on their hands.
“If the state believes that “punishing” people for standing up for everyone’s right to life will stop people resisting their genocidal policies, they are very wrong. You can lock us up but more people will take our place.”
Edred Whittingham, 27, from Exeter said:
“I acted to prevent harm and save lives, to protect my family and community, especially the most vulnerable. I refuse to be a bystander to the mass death that is inevitable on our current path. It is obvious to me that governments that refuse to act against the fossil fuel industry are guilty of the ultimate crime against humanity. This is true however the law sees me and my codefendants.”
According to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, there were 4,950 excess winter deaths caused by cold homes in the winter of 2022/2023 as the UK faced its worst energy crisis for 50 years. Household energy bills tripled, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A combination of high reliance on gas for both heating and electricity and inefficient buildings made the UK the worst-hit country in Europe. [4]
Despite some decline in the price cap since 2022, many households are now struggling through a fourth winter of the energy bills crisis and levels of energy debt have soared to record levels. The average household’s energy bill as of 1st January is 67% more expensive than in winter 2020/21 – around £700 a year for a typical home. Millions of pensioners no longer receive the winter fuel payment to assist with bills, as it is now means-tested. [5][6]
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’ a victory that was cemented by the judgement in a Scottish court today that declared the development consents for the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields to be unlawful. Non-violent civil resistance works. Just Stop Oil will once again be stepping into action this April to demand that the UK government commits to an international treaty to phase out the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030. You can help make this happen by coming to a talk and signing up for action at juststopoil.org.
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] Action press release:
https://juststopoil.org/2022/06/13/they-have-blood-on-their-hands-just-stop-oil-supporters-throw-paint-over-treasury-to-demand-an-end-to-new-oil-and-gas/
[3] New oil and gas field consent was unlawful – judge
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e1pw7npklo
[4] https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/almost-5000-excess-winter-deaths-caused-by-cold-homes-last-winter/
[5] https://reports.electricinsights.co.uk/q2-2022/the-cost-of-energy-crisis/
[6] https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/public-reveal-energy-security-fears-as-price-cap-increases/
