Two activists will serve 3.5 weeks of the sentence, judge Silas Reid said Friday at the Inner Crown Court in London.
They are Insulate Britain supporters: Portland Councillor Giovanna Lewis and Amy Pritchard.
They were earlier banned in court from saying they were motivated to protest because of the acuteness of climate change and fuel poverty.
The earlier jury failed to make a decision and that may have been down to their contempt of court.
They had glued themselves to a London road in 2021, so were being tried for creating a public nuisance.
Pritchard told the judge Friday it was more important to speak up about the climate crisis than follow his order.
Hot parts of the world were being treated as “sacrifice zones”, she told the court, instead of defending the charge. “I don’t know why we are so relaxed. I wonder if people are too comfortable to feel the urgency.”
She said the trial was politically motivated and the court was effectively in bed with the fossil fuel industry and the media.
Lewis said she had been unsophisticated to believe that the court was interested in the truth. “I now see how naive I have been.”
Lewis said the ruling was “squashing the human heart” and she was “not allowing my soul to be repressed.”
The court had made that ruling because it was clear the protesters had decided to break the law as they disrupted traffic on highways.
PA report:
Last month, another Insulate Britain protester David Nixon was given an eight-week prison sentence, also for defying Judge Reid’s orders, the Daily Mail reported.
Judge Reid said the trial was not about climate change, but whether the protesters caused a public nuisance, it said.
The judge said the public had a right not to be disrupted.
He said the two activists had deliberately placed themselves above the law in proceeding to ignore his ruling in front of a jury and, even after the jury was sent out of the court room. That was a decision that eroded the rule of law and that could not go unpunished.
The contempt might have been premeditated because the Guardian newspaper attended the hearings, he said. The activists didn’t comment on this point.
He took into account the crowded nature of Britain’s prisons when deciding his punishment and removed one third of the punishment time because the two offenders admitted their offence.
“This court is complicit,” yelled another activist Oliver Rock, after the decision. He was sitting next to CarrZee in the public gallery.
Others in the gallery applauded the two activists.
Rock, who suffered a prison sentence for blocking the M4 in 2021, earlier in an interview with CarrZee said of the court’s behavior:
“I’m disgusted. They should be thanking us for what we have done.”
Lex Korte, head of legal support at Climate Action Support Pathway, an NGO, said in an interview outside the court room that the two activists were not able to “tell their whole truth” in what motivated their crime.
Assessing motive is important in the legal process, for instance in determining whether a death is murder or manslaughter (accidental death), she said.
“Why would your motivation not be relevant?”
Tim Crosland, Director of the climate justice charity, Plan B, said the activists’ testimonies were “moving”. He earlier said:
“The British courts are clearly conflicted by climate protest. Juries apply their common sense and (if allowed to hear the ‘whole truth’) acquit. Some judges speak openly and praise the protestors. Others ban mention of ‘climate change’ and send the disobedient down to the cells. This can’t go on.”
Michael Mansfield KC told Plan B: “Time for the ancient defence – DURESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES – to be updated to meet the current climate crisis and be available for all those citizens who are compelled to protest on behalf of the planet and its survival.”
Unedited Press release published before the decision:
Lawyers to lead demo outside Inner London Crown Court tomorrow (Friday, 3 March) as more face prison sentences just for talking about climate change in court
Two more Insulate Britain supporters, Councillor Giovanna Lewis and Amy Pritchard, face prison in London on Friday afternoon, not for their part in a road-blocking campaign over the climate crisis and fuel poverty (the jury could not agree on a verdict on this), but simply for referring to ‘climate change’ during their trials, contrary to a judge’s ruling banning them from doing so.
They are due to appear before Judge Silas Reid at Inner London Crown Court, charged with contempt of court – the same judge who sent David Nixon, a care-worker, to prison for 8 weeks, also for explaining to the jury his motivation for joining the campaign.
This follows a pattern of acquittals of those in civil resistance, who have explained their motivation to the jury, and outrage from sections of the media at judges who express support for them.
A small demonstration, led by lawyers, is expected outside Inner London Crown Court from 2pm on Friday, 3 March.
Amy Pritchard had told the jury:
‘’The climate crisis and fuel poverty are killing people now, and I will not be prevented from saying this to a Jury. When our so-called leaders are failing us, ordinary people have to to step up. This is my motivation, and it IS relevant.”
Giovanna Lewis said to the jury:
“Every year thousands of UK citizens die of fuel poverty and thousands die in the world due to the climate crisis. In the future this will be millions. Government policies are responsible and the judiciary should prevent this instead of criminalising ordinary people trying to save lives and acting in self defence.”
Michael Mansfield KC said:
“Time for the ancient defence – DURESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES – to be updated to meet the current climate crisis and be available for all those citizens who are compelled to protest on behalf of the planet and its survival.”
Tim Crosland, Director of the climate justice charity, Plan B, said:
“The British courts are clearly conflicted by climate protest. Juries apply their common sense and (if allowed to hear the ‘whole truth’) acquit. Some judges speak openly and praise the protestors. Others ban mention of ‘climate change’ and send the disobedient down to the cells. This can’t go on.”
See also
“Juries keep letting Extinction Rebellion off the hook — here’s why” (Evening Standard)
“Insulate Britain activist jailed for eight weeks for contempt of court”, (Guardian 7, Feb)
