Shropshire Just Stop Oil activist facing 12-months in prison found not guilty over London slow-walk protest
“When faced with mass death on this scale, what else can ordinary people do but enter into civil resistance?”
A Just Stop Oil activist from Shrewsbury facing jail over a London protest has been found not guilty - along with six fellow campaigners.
Jamie Russell was one of 64 members of the climate campaign group who took part in a slow march on Cromwell Road on November 1, 2023, calling for an end to new oil and gas licences.
He was arrested along with others who took part in the march, and 14 were charged - with three remanded to prison.
Mr Russell and six others were charged with an offence under Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023 - interference with key national infrastructure. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
The Shrewsbury author and all six of his co-defendants were cleared after a jury found them not guilty following around three and a half hours of deliberations earlier this week.
All seven had represented themselves during the proceedings at Southwark Crown Court.
Speaking after his acquittal Mr Russell, 52, said he had faced one year in prison for twenty minutes of marching.
He told how he had been spurred to take part over concerns about the impact of climate change and the impact of fossil fuels on the environment.
He said: “On 1 November 2023 I was arrested for slow marching on Cromwell Road for twenty minutes to highlight the government’s decision to issue new North Sea oil and gas.
“If burned, those reserves would create 1.5 billion tonnes of emissions – causing 1.5 million premature future deaths. For twenty minutes marching I faced potentially a year in prison, so I’m grateful to the jury for finding us not guilty.
“In our evidence we included a report by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries – co-authored by a senior member of the Government Actuaries Department – which states that if we hit 2C by 2050 we will see two billion deaths.
“The Crown Prosecution Service and the judge allowed this to go into ‘Agreed Facts’ – meaning it was not in dispute. When faced with mass death on this scale, what else can ordinary people do but enter into civil resistance?”
As well as Mr Russell, Samuel Griffiths, Anthony Harvey, Jessica Sole, Rosemary Venn, Dr Thomas Barber and Gorden Garrick , were also acquitted.
Mr Griffiths, 51, a graphic designer and father from Walthamstow, was remanded to prison for 21 days following his arrest on the march.
He said: “I’m proud of being part of the action, trying to stand in the way of the harm that is coming for my son. I’m proud of being part of this trial group and the account we gave for ourselves. I really welcome this acquittal.”
Mr Griffiths also explained his motivations for taking action.
He said: “On July 20th 2022, in response to the 40oC temperatures of the previous day, I saw on the news a young person wearing orange climbing a gantry on the M25 in support of Just Stop Oil’s demand to end all new oil and gas development.
“I was inspired by their courage and their commitment to be unignorable.
“I also deeply appreciated someone taking this seriously and acting like this was an emergency, doing more than just holding the right opinions, or simply ignoring the situation, or like the government at the time, actively making things worse.
“I never had the courage myself to climb a motorway gantry, but I did think the very least I could do was to commit to supporting Just Stop Oil and its aims by taking action.”