Punishment for eco-protesters who were jailed for plot to bring M25 to a standstill in move that saw people miss funerals and cancer treatment was 'far too severe', Labour MP claims
Jail terms handed to environmental protesters who plotted to bring the M25 to a standstill have been criticised by a Labour MP as 'far too severe'.
Dan Norris insisted the Just Stop Oil activists given record sentences last month were part of a 'principled peaceful protest'.
The MP, who defeated Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg at the election, acknowledged the group had angered motorists by forcing police to stop traffic on London's orbital motorway, leading people to miss funerals, exams and cancer treatment.
He was taken to task by former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who warned against politicians criticising judges and making moral judgments about crimes.
Just Stop Oilers were given four- and five-year terms for organising the shutdown of the M25 in 2022.
Jail sentences handed to Just Stop Oil protesters who plotted to bring the M25 to a standstill were 'far too steep', a Labour MP has said
Dan Norris insisted the Just Stop Oil activists given record sentences last month were part of a 'principled peaceful protest'.
Traffic backing up on the M25 after eco protesters shut the road near the Dartford Crossing
JSO activists bringing traffic to a standstill on the M25 on November 10 2022
Eco-zealots climbing on gantries on the M25, closing the motorway between two junctions in November 2022
Sir Robert challenged him, saying: 'I'm surprised to hear that, bearing in mind the full extent of actually what happened with Just Stop Oil. It wasn't just inconvenience, there were life-changing things that happened to people as a result.
The millionaire former Just Stop Oil donor Dale Vince thinks the group has become too extreme and is 'not a fan' of their attempts to unleash a 'summer of chaos' at UK airports
HEATHROW: Phoebe Plummer (left), 22, and Jane Touil, 58, after spraying orange paint on passenger information screens, the floor and walls inside Terminal 5 on July 30
HEATHROW: JSO's poster girl Phoebe Plummer was one of those arrested during the protest on July 30
HEATHROW: A JSO activists sprays orange paint over the passenger information boards
GATWICK: JSO eco-zealots block the departures gateway at Gatwick Airport's South Terminal on July 29
Mr Vince joins a JSO march in Westminster on June 8 last year. He has poured scorn over the group's 'impractical' demands to end fossil fuel extraction by 2030
Mr Vince has made headlines this year after it was revealed he made donations worth £1.5million to Labour and Sir Keir Starmer while bankrolling the green group behind a string of annoying stunts.
Most recently they struck at a performance of Les Misérables, having also interrupted Wimbledon, an England cricket match and the Chelsea Flower show, as well as bringing London roads to a halt.
Just Stop Oilers (Left to right) Indigo Rumbelow, 30, Margaret Reid, 53, Ella Ward, 21, Noah Crane, 19, and Daniel Knorr, 22, were arrested near Manchester Airport
AUGUST 1: Just Stop Oil protesters block the security screening area at Heathrow Terminal Five
AUGUST 1: Just Stop Oil activists hold placards which say 'oil kills' as passengers are forced to another departure gate
AUGUST 1: Just Stop Oil protesters hold 'Oil Kills' signs as they block the security gates
Activists carried out a blockade across different parts of the motorway orbiting London
The M25 blockade in November 2022, which saw campaigners climb gantries over the motorway, caused 50,000 hours of delays and forced a man to miss his father's funeral
Just Stop Oil defendants Theresa Higginson, 26, Daniel Johnson, 25, Gaie Delap, 77, Paul Sousek, 73, Paul Bell, 24, and George Simonson, 24 who received one or two year prison sentences
Just Stop Oilers from left to right: Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster, Daniel Shaw and Roger Hallam. Ringleader Hallam was sentenced to five years' imprisonment while the remaining four defendants were each handed four years' imprisonment
Specially trained police officers using ropes to bring down a Just Stop Oil protester on a gantry on the M25 in November 2022
Just Stop Oil Poster Girl Phoebe Plummer has taken part in numerous other demonstrations, committing flagrant offences and being constantly re-bailed so she can re-offend
Plummer, who has likened herself to Martin Luther King, has lived a life of luxury
Plummer attended the £50,000 a year St Mary's Ascott boarding school in Berkshire
Cressida Gethin's mother Cathy (pictured) complained after her daughter received a sentence of four years for her part in the JSO M25 stunt, saying Cressida would have to miss her brother's wedding next Summer.
The Gethin family's idyllic country house in Hereford, Herefordshire. Cressida grew up in the countryside.
Cressida Gethin, 22, was convicted of causing a public nuisance for her part in the motorway protest that caused a nine-mile tailback on July 20, 2022. She moaned about being locked up in prison for 4 years, but said she would do it all again.
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