UK Court Tosses Absurdly Excessive Sentences Given Fracking Protestors On "Public Nuisance" Charges
Three protesters jailed for blocking access to a fracking site have walked free after the court of appeal quashed their sentences, calling them “manifestly excessive”.
Simon Blevins, 26, Richard Roberts, 36, and Rich Loizou, 31, were sent to prison last month after being convicted of causing a public nuisance with a protest outside the Preston New Road site near Blackpool, Lancashire. Blevins and Roberts were sentenced to 16 months and Loizou to 15 months.
But on Wednesday afternoon the court of appeal ruled their sentences were inappropriate and they should be freed immediately. Soon after, the trio walked free from Preston prison, where they were greeted with hugs and cheers from dozens of supporters. To applause from the crowd, Loizou said: “If people break the law out of a moral obligation to prevent the expansion of fossil fuel industries they should not be sent to prison.
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Questions over the original trial judge’s family links to the oil and gas industry were also raised in court on Wednesday. Judge Robert Altham’s father and sister run JC Altham and Sons, a company believed to be part of the supply chain for energy giant Centrica, which has invested tens of millions of pounds in fracking.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/17/court-quashes-excessive-sentences-of-fracking-protesters
