BREAKING: HUNG JURY IN LATEST INSULATE BRITAIN TRIAL AS JUDGE DESCRIBES CLIMATE BREAKDOWN AS ‘ARMAGEDDON’

Six Insulate Britain supporters were given a temporary reprieve after a Crown Court jury failed to reach a majority verdict in Hove today. The trial that concluded today was the fourteenth Crown Court trial resulting from Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of nonviolent civil resistance undertaken to demand the UK government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes. [1] 

Daniel Shaw, 37, a public sector worker from Northampton, Philippa Clarke, 75, a retired therapist and teacher from Frome, Victoria Lindsell, 67, a teacher from Leamington Spa, Barry Mitchell, 75, retired engineer from Telford, Peter Morgan, 74, retired computer programmer from Sutton Coldfield and Ian Bates, 63, a community worker from Northampton were charged with causing a public nuisance for stopping traffic at the Port of Dover on 24th September 2021. [2] 

After deliberating for around 9 hours the jury revealed that they could not reach a majority decision and that more time would not help to achieve a result. The Crown Prosecution Service has indicated that it will apply for a retrial. 

In his summing up, Judge Gold described to the Jury, what lies ahead for this country as  ‘Armageddon’.

In his evidence, Daniel Shaw said:

I realise that people often have problems translating science. It’s difficult to understand the difference between 1.5C and 2C. What does it mean?  In Spain it was 37C when it would normally be 21C. We went to visit a rice farmer. Normally he’d be sowing rice, but there was no water in his field. The earth was brown and cracked. The farmer hadn’t bothered to sow any crops. That’s where we’re heading. If we can’t grow food here, how the hell are we going to manage?”

Speaking after the verdict, Victoria Lindsell said:

It is wonderful to know that our truth has reached the mind and souls of the jury. Recognising the desperate need to Insulate Britain and further trigger the reduction of fossil fuel emissions was our goal.  I very much hope that people make the link between Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil and come join our demand for life.

A spokesperson for the campaign said:

“It’s clear that when judged by their peers ordinary people in civil resistance cannot be found guilty of public nuisance for demanding the government do right by people living in this country and around the globe.  

Whilst we are glad that some members of the judiciary are now accepting the reality we face,  our politicians and leaders are still too stupid or too scared to make the legislative changes necessary. As ministers congratulate themselves on yet more Public Order legislation we will continue to demand that cold homes are insulated and that new oil and gas is stopped to ensure our children can live their natural lives in health and safety.”

At Inner London Crown Court 5 people have been jailed since February for telling the truth in court including two earlier this week. [3]

In the fourteen Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges to date, three trials have resulted in a hung jury, two trials have resulted in acquittals, seven have resulted in a guilty verdict and two have been deferred. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has applied for retrials in the three cases where the jury failed to reach a majority verdict.

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. [5]

ENDS

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Email: insulatebritainpress@protonmail.com

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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] 

http://insulatebritain.com/2021/09/24/insulate-britain-blocks-the-port-of-dover/ 

[3] 

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/

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/

Alyson Lee, David Nixon and Christian Murray-Lesley jailed for telling the whole truth during sentencing: https://insulatebritain.com/2023/04/18/breaking-three-insulate-britain-supporters-sent-to-prison-after-they-pledge-to-continue-civil-resistance/


[4] https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/code-crown-prosecutors 

[5] 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)