On 28 April 2022, Just Stop Oil supporters blocked the entrances to Clacket Lane Services on the M25 by sitting in the road with Just Stop Oil banners. They also decommissioned the petrol pumps by breaking the display glass and covering it with spray paint. This action was taken in support of their demand for the UK government to end all new oil and gas projects in the country.
In a unanimous verdict delivered today by a jury at Guildford Crown Court, Just Stop Oil supporters Nathan McGovern, Rosa Sharkey, and Louis Hawkins were found not guilty of causing criminal damage.
Any jury may consider that the law itself is unjust. It is an important principle and indicates public opposition to aspects of law, in this case, the ‘lawful’ behaviour of fossil fuel corporations.
The damages a small group of people can do to a few gas pumps is far far less than the damages they are trying to prevent. It’s terrorism in your head because the corporations are operating “business as usual”, but business as usual for a lot of industries is eco or economic terrorism on a mass scale. If rules only exist for the poor, we need to find a way for society to course correct those who will continue to do the world harm.
How else can we make a difference? Calling a representative? Voting? Sure, but our voices are farts in the wind compared to ThE aLmIgHtY pRoFiT mArGiN, even for politicians