A Just Stop Oil activist is thought to be the first person jailed under tough new legislation intended to tackle disruptive protests.
Stephen Gingell, 57, of Manchester, admitted an offence of interfering with the use or operation of key national infrastructure when he appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Monday, 13th November 2023.
The father-of-three was sentenced at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 14th December 2023.
Interference with the use or operation of key national infrastructure, which encompasses road transport infrastructure, is an offence under section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023. The offence has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.
It's an interesting and far reaching piece of legislation and one that I may examine in more detail in a future article. Significantly, the legislation gives a very broad definition of the term "interference" - as being any act that prevents infrastructure from being used or operated to any extent for any of its intended purposes. In this case Gingell has admitted interference with the flow of traffic on Holloway Road, north London.
Gingell was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists to slow march along Holloway Road on the afternoon of Sunday, 12th November 2023. Holloway Road, by way of context, is a major thoroughfare and shopping street. The main A1 road, which connects London and Edinburgh, runs along Holloway Road.
In response to Gingell's sentencing, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: "It seems this government has now made walking down the road, walking on the public highway, an illegal act that is worthy of imprisonment.
"How many fathers will be imprisoned before those planning to kill us are stopped?
"Protected by the government, by failed politicians, by the police, those committing genocide continue to walk free, while those protesting the killings are banged up."
Human rights lawyers have also condemned the sentence imposed.
Katy Watts, a lawyer at human rights organisation Liberty, said: "This is yet another unnecessary and draconian law introduced by a government that is hell-bent on discouraging people from standing up for what they believe in. It is a clear attempt to silence people and for the government to hide from all accountability.
"Protest is a fundamental right, not a gift from the state. The government should be protecting our right to protest, not criminalising it."
My first impression, although not privy to the full facts of the case, is that this is a pretty extreme bit of sentencing. The sentence may well be justified, but I think it would take very significant disruption in order to do so.
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