One jailed and three others fined over Insulate Britain roadblock protest

(The Guardian, 20 Apr 2023) Four activists, who sat in the road at Bishopsgate in London in October 2021, were found guilty of causing a public nuisance.

One protester has been jailed for five weeks and three others given fines and community service for their part in a protest to demand government action on insulation.

Daphne Jackson, 72, Beatrice Pooley, 65, and two protesters who have outstanding court cases sat in the road at the Bishopsgate junction in London during an Insulate Britain protest on 25 October 2021. The four were convicted of causing a public nuisance earlier this year and sentenced on Thursday.

Jackson told the court: “We are not crackpot activists. We are people who can read the science.”

David Matthew, prosecuting, said: “If the court does not maintain the right of the public to use a public road, it would be a failure and rightly resented by the public. This was aimed to cause disruption. It aimed to seek publicity.”

As he delivered the sentences, judge Silas Reid said: “None of you have shown any real remorse for your actions. In fact, you wear them with a degree of pride.

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The Guardian, 20 Apr 2023: One jailed and three others fined over Insulate Britain roadblock protest