Lancaster’s Jail Term Reduced: Climate Campaigner Wins Appeal

Louise Lancaster, from Grantchester, got a reduced sentence. Her prison term went from four years to three. She protested new oil and gas licenses, and the court found her guilty in July 2024. She was part of “The Whole Truth Five.”

Lancaster, age 59, was a former teacher. She joined 15 other activists who got jail terms last year. Their sentences ranged from 15 months to five years for four Just Stop Oil demonstrations in 2022.

Roger Hallam, who co-founded Just Stop Oil and started Extinction Rebellion, also got a sentence reduction from five years to four. He agreed to disrupt traffic on the M25, where protesters climbed gantries for four days and others threw soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

The group appealed their sentences in January. Their lawyers said the sentences were excessive and claimed the court disregarded their motives. The lawyers stated that protesters acted on their conscience.

The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday, reducing Hallam and “The Whole Truth Five’s” sentences. They dismissed the other appeals. Baroness Carr led the court with two other judges.

Hallam’s sentence went from five years to four. The court considered his first time in custody, and that deterrence was an important factor. The court thought four years was enough.

Louise Lancaster, Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker de Abreu, and Cressida Gethin originally got four years. Lancaster and Shaw now have three-year sentences, while Whittaker de Abreu and Gethin now have 30 months.

The judges said Whittaker de Abreu’s sentence was too high. Gethin was 20 at the time, which the court considered; they viewed her as less culpable because of her age.

Gaie Delap also got a reduced sentence, from 20 months to 18, because she protested on the M25. The court said her bail conditions mattered, conditions that were not considered earlier.

The protesters’ lawyers may go to the Supreme Court. Ten other appeals did not succeed, as George Simonson and others got between 20 months and two years for climbing gantries on the M25.

Larch Maxey and others got between 15 months and three years for occupying tunnels by the Navigator Oil Terminal. Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland got two years and 20 months respectively, for throwing soup on Van Gogh’s painting.

Protesters’ lawyers said they sacrificed themselves and that their sentences are the highest in modern Britain. The Crown Prosecution Service said the appeals were wrong.

Baroness Carr said motivation mattered, however she noted it did not excuse the protesters’ actions. Campaigners turned their backs in court, wearing shirts that read “Corruption in Court”.

Raj Chada reacted to the ruling, calling the sentences excessive and expressing disappointment that many sentences stayed the same. He said England gives harsher terms than other European countries.

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth intervened. Katie de Kauwe said locking people up makes no sense. Peter Tatchell also called it criminal injustice, comparing sentences to those of Suffragettes.

Over 1,000 people protested the jailings. They gathered outside the Royal Court of Justice, displaying the “Free Political Prisoners” exhibition.