Three Insulate Britain supporters were jailed today for public nuisance after vowing to continue in civil resistance, while one was given a community service order.
Alyson Lee, 64, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, David Nixon, 36, a care worker from Barnsley, Kai Bartlett, 21, a former law student from Shrewsbury, and Christian Murray-Leslie, 79, a retired Doctor from Derbyshire were found guilty at their jury trial on 7th February. They had stopped traffic on Bishopsgate with others on 25th October 2021 as part of Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of civil resistance. Other Insulate Britain supporters who were part of the team at the Bishopsgate roadblock have been acquitted. [1] [2] [3] [4]
During today’s hearing at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Reid questioned the four being sentenced about their future intentions and in particular asked whether they intended to continue in civil resistance. He indicated that this would determine whether a suspended or a custodial sentence should be given.
Alyson Lee, David Nixon and Christian Murray-Lesley each indicated that they would continue in civil resistance and were given custodial prison sentences of 5 weeks each of which they will serve half before being released. Kai Barlett was given a community service order and was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work.
In his mitigation statement, David Nixon said
“I will start by making clear that I will be continuing on, I will continue to take action that may lead to my arrest and potential imprisonment. Prison is not a deterrent, merely a pause. I am justified in doing this as we are facing an existential threat to humanity, and our government is actively making things worse. It’s abhorrent, it needs resisting. I am right in my actions.”
In her mitigation statement, Alyson Lee said:
“As soon as the opportunity arises I will be back out there doing what I can to raise the alarm and force the government to act appropriately in this existential crisis. This awful surreal situation demands a lot more than usual protest – it demands civil resistance.”
In his mitigation statement, Christian Murray-Leslie said:
“I believe we had overwhelming moral justification for our actions and so I cannot possibly regret or apologise for taking this action at Bishopsgate myself even if this broke the law. I am at peace with my conscience and believe history will judge me to have done the right thing as I sought to prevent greater harm.
“Your honour, you will have heard that my wife does not enjoy the best of health. I believe I have a duty to support her, however I also have a duty to our grandchildren and others’ children and grandchildren to do absolutely everything that I can to try and prevent irreversible climate change, whilst there is still time.
“As you may suppose I have talked at length to my wife, who is a brave and moral person. She will not stand in my way as she realises that what I am doing is right. So I have to tell you that I cannot commit to stopping.”
In his summing up Judge Reid said that all four were “people of good character, apart from protest” and that “good people sometimes do bad things”. He said that he considered that the “net effect of all the protests was zero” and questioned why the group would wish to continue.
No prosecution costs were awarded against Kai Bartlett or David Nixon, who faces high costs as part of a private prosecution by National Highways. Alyson Lee and Christian Murray-Leslie were ordered to pay £3,500 prosecution costs. All except David Nixon were ordered to pay a £38 victim surcharge.
As with all the Insulate Britain public nuisance trials at Inner London Crown Court, those sentenced today were subject to Judge Reid’s gagging order during their trial. Reid’s ruling prevents Insulate Britain supporters from truthfully defending themselves in court by banning them from mentioning fuel poverty, the climate crisis or civil resistance when defending their actions in front of the jury.
David Nixon has already spent four weeks in prison in February after he defied Judge Reid’s gagging order. A further two Insulate Britain supporters were also sent to prison for seven weeks each in March after they too, refused to be silenced during their trial. [6]
In the twelve Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges to date, two trials have resulted in a hung jury, two trials have resulted in acquittals, six have resulted in a guilty verdict and two have been deferred. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has applied for retrials in the two cases where the jury failed to reach a majority verdict. This is despite the Code for Crown Prosecutors which states that the CPS must only bring cases where there is a “realistic prospect of conviction”. The current rate of successful convictions of Insulate Britain supporters brought to trial for a charge of public nuisance is 50%. [7]
The CPS has chosen to summon a total of 56 supporters to answer at least 201 charges of public nuisance across at least 45 jury trials the last of which is scheduled to begin on 4th December 2023. These trials are planned to be heard across Inner London, Hove, Lewes and Reading Crown Courts and we estimate will take up at least 1,462 hours of court time at a cost of over £1 million. [8]
Trudi Warner 68, a retired social worker from London was arrested outside Inner London Crown Court for holding a sign addressing jurors. She appeared at the Old Bailey on 4th April and has been informed that her case has now been referred to the Attorney General for review. A further three people have been arrested for “perverting the course of justice” after displaying posters near Inner London Crown Court which stated; “Message to the public: if you are on a jury you have an absolute right to acquit (not guilty) a defendant on your conscience for any reason you choose”. [9]
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Insulate Britain is a campaign group that is calling on the UK government to put in place policy and funding for a national home insulation programme starting with all social housing by 2025, and create a meaningful plan to insulate the entire UK housing stock by 2030.
Further information about Insulate Britain and our demands here: https://insulatebritain.com/
Technical Report on home energy efficiency here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jt5FI-kinEXoqZtPDrCvnAVQ2EFn8Aea/view
Insulate Britain ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with ‘blue lights’ on.
[2] Roadblock: https://insulatebritain.com/2021/10/25/breaking-we-wont-stand-by-while-the-government-kills-our-kids/
[4] Bishopsgate Acquittals: https://insulatebritain.com/2022/12/09/breaking-three-insulate-britain-supporters-vindicated-after-jury-returns-unanimous-not-guilty-verdict/
[5] David Nixon Jailed for telling the Whole Truth during trial: https://insulatebritain.com/2023/02/07/insulate-britain-supporter-jailed-for-eight-weeks-for-telling-the-truth-in-court/
[6] Amy Pritchard and Cllr Giovanna Lewis Jailed for telling the Whole Truth during trial: https://insulatebritain.com/2023/03/03/two-insulate-britain-supporters-jailed-for-seven-weeks-for-mentioning-fuel-poverty-and-climate-in-court/
[7] https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/code-crown-prosecutors
[8] Workings:
Total hours – Each Public Nuisance trial has been scheduled to take 5 days. The court sits for at least 6 hours each day (45 trials x 5 days x 6 hours = 1,350 hours)Total cost – The CPS claims prosecution costs of £5,000 per person tried and found guilty of Public Nuisance (201 charges x £5,000 a time = £1,005,000)