Fracking protesters freed from prison as appeal judges rule sentences were 'manifestly excessive'

Environmental campaigners have called for mass direct action against fracking after three of their number were freed by the Court of Appeal on the grounds their custodial sentence had been “excessive”.

The ruling is expected to encourage hundreds of people to join a mass protest against fracking at the Cuadrilla site in Lancashire on Saturday, on the expectation they are now unlikely to be sent to prison even if charged and convicted.

Simon Blevins, 26, a soil scientist from Sheffield; and Richard Roberts, 36, a teacher from London, had been jailed for 16 months, while Rich Loizou, 31, a piano restorer from Devon, was given 15 months in September.

But their sentences were replaced with conditional discharges by three senior judges sitting in London on Wednesday.

The trio were arrested after climbing onto lorries outside Cuadrilla's fracking site in Little Plumpton in a protest which lasted almost 100 hours last July.

The three, who were the first environmental protesters to be imprisoned since 1932, were convicted of public nuisance following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

But quashing their jail terms the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said: "We have concluded that an immediate custodial sentence in the case of these appellants was manifestly excessive.

"In our judgment the appropriate sentence which should have been imposed on September 26 was a community order with a significant requirement of unpaid work.

"But these appellants have been in prison for six weeks. As a result, and only for that reason, we have concluded that the appropriate sentence now is a conditional discharge for two years."

Supporters in the packed courtroom erupted into applause as the decision was announced.

Responding to the ruling Ms Easton read a statement on behalf of the three calling for renewed mass protest.

He said: "Today's decision affirms that when people peacefully break the law out of a moral obligation to prevent things such as the fossil fuel industry they should not be sent to prison.

"Fracking is beginning right now, so there has never been a more crucial moment to take action. Your planet needs you.

"We encourage everyone who is able to join us this Saturday for a mass demonstration at the UK's first fracking site and to look up the activist network Reclaim the Power and find opportunity to take direct action or to volunteer in vital support roles."

Cuadrilla was last week given the go-ahead to start work at the site following a failed High Court bid by campaigners to block fracking due to safety concerns.

The appeal against the convictions was supported by human rights organisation Liberty and environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth.

Katie de Kauwe, lawyer at Friends of the Earth, said: "An individual's moral convictions on climate change or environmental protection shouldn't be used as a factor to justify harsh sentencing.

"We believe that the fracking protesters' passion for the environment was unlawfully used against them, resulting in incorrect and draconian sentences."

A fourth activist, Julian Brock, 47, from Torquay, was sentenced to 12 months in custody, suspended for 18 months, after he admitted public nuisance, but he did not challenge his sentence.

Actress Emma Thompson, who is also an environmental activist, said: "When a government behaves contrary to science, reason and public opinion, it's inevitable that some brave souls will resist.

"I'm truly grateful to the three activists for doing what we should all be doing - trying to protect our children's future from fossil-fuelled disaster. Thank God the courts have seen sense and freed them!"

After the ruling, Platon Loizou, father of one of the three, said: "We are just delighted. Today justice has really been done. We have now got to concentrate our efforts on stopping fracking in this country."

Rosalind Blevins, the mother of Simon Blevins, said: "I would like to say a huge thank you to the many thousands of supporters, friends, strangers, academics, politicians, trade unions who condemned the original harsh sentence and cried out for the right to peaceful protest.”