Local Activist 'Crossed the Line from Campaigner to Fanatic'

Roger Hallam jailed for five years for M25 protest

Roger Hallam (right) with the four activists also jailed. Picture: JSO

July 18, 2024

A sometime Putney resident who helped bring the M25 to a standstill over four days has been jailed for five years.

Judge Christopher Hehir said 57-year-old Roger Hallam, whose address was given as being in Wales, and four of his co-accused had "crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic” at the end of the trial at Southwark Crown Court. He added that Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion was the ‘ideas man’ of a carefully planned operation design to maximise disruption.

Hallam along with Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin had been working with a group of 45 Just Stop Oil protestors who climbed up gantries on the motorway back in November 2022.

The four other defendants were jailed for four years and the comparatively lengthy sentences are due to greater sentencing powers given to judges by the new law of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance introduced by the last government. The judge could have handed out ten-year jail terms under this legislation after the jury found the defendants guilty last Thursday (11 July) and they were remanded in custody.

The court was told that the economic cost of the protests was estimated to be over three quarters of a million pounds plus a bill for extra shifts for the Metropolitan Police of over £1million. In addition, people involved in the resulting congestion said they missed flights and medical appointments as a result.

The planning of the event was revealed in Zoom call which was infiltrated and recorded by a Sun reporter and passed to the police, the court heard.

Traffic held up on the M25 by one of the protests. Picture: JSO

The judge had ruled out any defences based on views about climate change saying it was irrelevant to the charges. At the start of the trial the jury had been told that the fact that climate change was a threat to humanity was not being disputed. The defendants nevertheless insisted on giving an explanation of their actions, despite the judge’s direction not to do so, arguing that they were required to do so by the oath they had taken to tell the whole truth. This resulted in the clearing of the court and the arrest and imprisonment of the defendants.

Hallam’s barrister had told the court that he now rejected the value of direct action campaigning such as the M25 protest and had changed his approach to more conventional methods. However, during the proceedings he was arrested three times for disregarding the judge’s instructions and encouraging supporters to enter the court building with placards resulting in eleven people being arrested also although they were released without charge. Later in the trial over 80 people turned up with placards and they were left undisturbed.

Hallam said in a statement during the trial, “The corruption of our judges by the carbon state has crossed a line in the sand.

“This is an opportunity, and an obligation, to act. We only have a limited amount of time to halt the unimaginable horrors of climate and social collapse - and to save our democracy.”

Following the verdict Just Stop Oil said it would continue ‘proportional action’ with airports will be declared sites of civil resistance over the summer. Sign up to take action at juststopoil.org.