To think the judge was right to throw the book at Just Stop Oil?

[StripedPiggy]

Five Just Stop Oil activists, including leader & XR founder Roger Hallam have been sentenced to up to 5 years in jail for blocking the M25 & other main roads.
Their intention was to cause gridlock on roads in the South East. The disruption they caused resulted in people missing medical appointments, flights & business meetings.

Well done to that judge. The criminal justice system is right to pass serious sentences on these fanatics which will act as a strong deterrent to others who might try to cause mass disruption, and put people’s lives in danger, to further a political agenda, whatever it might be.

Me too. I genuinely think it's terrifying.

All of this, and I'm very glad that they've got these sentences. I hope it scares the wooly jumpers and pink hair off many others like them.

Oh give over. Nobody on here's kids are going to 'die on a burning planet'.

@StripedPiggy I wonder if you’re the worst person I’ve ever encountered? I spent my 20s working in counter terrorism, but at least those absolute bastards believed in something beyond ‘bring out the black cap’. Not you, though. You don’t believe in anything, you’re just so aroused by the idea that someone should go to prison (which is a concept you don’t understand at all - I would love for you to spend a day in prison and then see if you could do another 2000 days in it) because they made a bit of a bother.

People who commit serious, violent offences get less than five years. You’ve probably done some things here and there that, with the wrong judge, could attract a prison sentence, and you wouldn’t last 5 minutes let alone 5 years. But you think some people who are trying to raise awareness of the greatest existential crisis in human history should get the same sentence as rapists and murderers.

Idiot.

@Justrelax ok. Grandkids will though. But you’re alright. Must be great to be this selfish. Get in the bin.

Hi Roger! 👋

@StripedPiggy who tf is Roger?!

Great argument! You must be terribly proud.

Seriously, though, do you think protesters like this should get the same sentence as genuinely violent criminals? If you say yes I’d at least respect you for your conviction, if not your intelligence.

Firstly, I am not a critic....and I am mystified at these sentences! They seem excessive, surely a custodial sentence is not fair here.

However, rightly or wrongly they do turn joe public away from their cause by acting this way. They need to inconvenience the law makers, not the general public. Block their routes, cause them issues, sadly our government don't care enough about us for these kinds of protests to have any effect.

I want to reiterate that these aren't my personal views, EVERYONE should be aware of the impact of climate change and doing everything they can to allow it down, you just asked what critics think should happen.

The ambulance death is complete fake news. Made up by the same Sun newspaper -a paper staffed by Rats and read by lemmings.

This!! Shocked at this thread. Do people not understand the consequences of the climate crisis??!!

I support Don't Stop Oil.

And wanting to stop climate destruction is a “specific interest”????!!!!!

there is no hope for humanity.

Bubble and Hocus, please don't embarras yourselves. Your ignorance is gleaming. Most committed environmental activists I know (XR, IB, JSO) are working regular jobs, have sacrificed a great deal and, in a couple of cases, now have considerable debt following court cases, and criminal records precluding them from pursuing further career opportunities in professional roles.

If you are going to cast aspersions on a person's character or credentials; 'a cursory glance' is shabby and won't do.

Climate issues are in the news all the time.

Just because any group thinks a certain things should be done does not give them the right to cause civil disruption in order to force people to do them.

None of us have the right to violently force the causes we think are important on society at large.

It's not a good look. The UN described the previous harsh sentencing of Just Stop Oil protesters as significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past," noting concerns about “the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.

It looks like a politically motivated decision, rather than a criminal justice decision, and I hope it will be successfully appealed.

My immediate thought was that real criminals don’t get actual time inside…5 years is excessive

Which 'real' criminals do you mean??

Genuinely frightening the number of people cheering and applauding the imprisonment of citizens for nothing more than engaging in entirely legal peaceful protest while members of an entirely legal organisation.

People threw bricks at Moseley and his supporters, and then later went off to North Africa, Asia, and continental Europe to fight Fascism and liberate people, yet in 2024 there is a fair chunk of the UK population who appear to be ready to welcome it with open arms.

It would be funny if it wasn't so vomit-inducing.

It’s obviously been done to send a strong message that this type of protest - the method not the reason behind the protest - won’t be tolerated. Blocking a motorway is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. It costs the economy millions, ties up police resources and causes accidents.

I’m happy that they were given a custodial sentence because I don’t want to see a repeat of this. Having said that, the length of sentence is ridiculous. As lots of posters have pointed out, suspended sentences are often handed out for violent crimes.

Right, you must be one of those moms who likes to complain about what other people don't do and the planet your children are going to inherit while doing fuck all about anything. Plenty of you lot on here.

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/mum-endured-horrific-attack-hands-17468061

This is an example that’s stayed with me.

This.
Easy targets too, looks what’s happening in Leeds and all emergency services have thought fuck this, not my circus. Scary times.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13404633/security-guard-pretending-cop-mother-child-police-handcuffs-baseball-bat.html

This is really frightening - the man had a baseball bat and handcuffs in his car. Suspended sentence.

Why should anyone answer your question? What are your answers? Are JSO managing to achieve the results they claim they want?

Please tell us what you are doing about it?