Appeal judges found sentence excessive and said he should not have been jailed


Picture: Richard Robert Facebook

Richard Roberts, a piano restorer from Putney was one of three men jailed in September for causing "significant" disruption when he clambered onto lorries during a four-day protest outside a fracking site in Lancashire.

However this Wednesday (17 October) the three men were released after the Court of Appeals judges ruled that they should never have been jailed and that their sentences were 'excessive'.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said: "In our judgment, the appropriate sentence which should have been imposed... was a community order with a significant requirement of unpaid work, but these appellants have been in prison for six weeks".

He continued: "As a result, and only for that reason, we have concluded that the appropriate sentence now is a conditional discharge for two years."

Concerns that the original judge Judge Robert Altham (pictured below) should not have presided over the case as his family had an interest with the fracking industry was not covered in this case but "will be considered in accordance with the Judicial Conduct Rules 2014".


Judge Robert Altham

October 18, 2018