The sentences of six individuals involved in several climate protests have been reduced upon appeal.

Roger Hallam, a co-founder of Just Stop Oil, initially received a five-year jail term for orchestrating disruptions through protests on M25 gantries over four days. This sentence was cut to four years.

Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin, who were originally sentenced to four years for participating in the same protest, now face reduced terms.

Shaw and Lancaster’s sentences were reduced to three years, while Whittaker De Abreu and Gethin’s terms were reduced to 30 months.

Gaie Delap, who was initially sentenced to 20 months for her role in protests that involved climbing on M25 gantries, now faces an 18-month sentence.

The claims of the other 10 protesters involved in the mass appeal were not successful.

During a two-day hearing last month, 16 activists imprisoned for their roles in various disruptive protests in 2022 argued that the trial judges overlooked the customary leniency typically offered to acts of civil disobedience driven by conscientious motivations.

“These are the only known instances of peaceful protesters being punished without any reduction in sentence for their motivations,” stated documents submitted to the court by the applicants.

According to Danny Friedman KC, the sentences handed down to four activists who organized roadblock protests on the M25 were the most severe of their kind in modern British history, with others being significantly harsher than expected.

“If these sentences are allowed to stand on appeal, they would represent a significant shift in this area of criminal law,” he added.

Further details to follow soon …