UK

Judge praises Just Stop Oil activists as ‘good people with admirable aims’ as he convicts them

Jane Dalton
Fri, 17 February 2023 


A judge has thanked anti-fossil fuel campaigners for opening his eyes as he praised them as good people with admirable aims.

In comments supporting their motivation, Judge Graham Wilkinson told Just Stop Oil activists who had blocked the distribution of oil that they were “a pleasure to deal with”. He also said he had been moved by their evidence.

Activists stop an oil tanker on its way to a terminal in Birmingham (Just Stop Oil)

Seven backers of the anti-fossil fuel movement were found guilty at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court of aggravated trespass, and two were cleared, after they peacefully blocked oil distribution from an Esso terminal in Birmingham for 12 hours on 3 April last year.

The activists were demanding the government halt licences and granting permission for any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

Paul Barnes, Paul Fawkesley and Alan Woods were each ordered to pay costs of £500. Oliver Clegg, Jon Deery, Harley Brewer and Diana Hekt were ordered to pay costs of £250 each.

All seven were given a 12-month conditional discharge and told to pay a £22 surcharge.

Naomi Goddard and Sylvie More were found not guilty after prosecutors offered no evidence against them.

During the trial, the defendants said that Esso, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, had led a “sustained campaign of misinformation” across many decades, over the role of fossil fuels in climate breakdown.

Convicting the seven, the judge said: “It’s abundantly clear that you are all good people. You are intelligent and articulate, and you have been a pleasure throughout to deal with.

“It’s unarguable that man-made global warming is real and we are facing a climate crisis. That is accepted and recognised by the scientific community and most governments (including our own).

Campaigners halted oil distribution for 12 hours at the Birmingham terminal (Just Stop Oil)

“Your aims are to slow or even stop the advance of global warming and therefore preserve the planet, not just for generations to come but for existing generations.

“No one can criticise your motivations and indeed each of you has spoken about your own personal experiences, motivations and actions. Many of your explanations for your actions were deeply emotive and I am sure all listening were moved by them. I know I was.

“In simple terms, you are good people with admirable aims. However, if good people with the right motivation do the wrong thing, it can never make that wrong thing right, it can only ever act as substantial mitigation.”

He said the group’s fears were “ably and genuinely articulated” and supported by the science.

Judge Wilkinson went on: “When the United Nations’ secretary-general gives a speech saying that the activity of fossil fuel companies is incompatible with human survival, we should all be very aware of the need for change.

“Millions of people – and I do not dispute that it may be as many as 1 billion people – will be displaced as a result of climate change.

“The tragedy is that good people have felt so much, without hope, that you feel you have to come into conflict with the criminal justice system.”

Since the Just Stop Oil campaign launched a year ago, more than 2,000 people have been arrested and 138 people have been jailed for actions such as blocking traffic, throwing paint on buildings and climbing motorway gantries.

Many people have criticised the activists – who oppose the burning of fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases – over the disruption they have caused.

The judge prefaced his remarks by saying it was a court of law, not morals.

“Trust in the rule of law is an essential ingredient of society, and it will erode swiftly if judges make politically or morally motivated decisions that do not accord with established legal principles. Indeed, I would become the self-appointed sheriff if I acted in such a way,” he said.

But he thanked the defendants for opening his eyes. “Most, I was acutely and depressingly aware of, but there were certain things,” he said.

“I say this I – and I mean this sadly – I have to convict you. You are good people and I will not issue a punitive sentence. Your arrests and loss of good character are sufficient. I don’t say this, ever, but it has been a pleasure dealing with you.”

To one defendant who said in his evidence that he felt guilty for not doing enough to save the planet for his daughter, Judge Wilkinson said: “You should feel guilty for nothing. You should feel proud that you care, have concern for the future. I urge you not to break the law again. Good luck to all of you.”

The activists said that during the trial, prosecutors had initially described them as “self-appointed vigilantes”, but on hearing their evidence, retracted that comment and conceded they were “good people”.

In cross-examination Esso’s terminal safety manager Craig Pugh reportedly played down the burning of fossil fuels, saying “there are lots of things going on in the world”.

One defendant, Naomi Goddard, 58, a parish clerk from Calderdale, said: “Part of my role is to make sure things are lawful. Is it lawful to continue to license new fossil fuels, when we know that they are killing us? This is the question we need to be asking our government and the judiciary.”