Woman told the ECHO she was willing to go to jail and tonight that is exactly where she is

A month after a woman told the ECHO she was prepared to go to jail again for her beliefs, she has subsequently been sentenced to time inside.

Amy Pritchard, who lives in Old Swan, smashed the windows of American finance company JPMorgan Chase - weeks after the bank was identified as the largest lender to fossil fuel companies in 2023.

The agricultural and woodland worker “broke the glass in case of climate emergency”, with the bank claiming there was £306,000 worth of criminal damage.

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The 39-year-old appeared at Inner London Crown Court today, Wednesday, June 12, in front of Judge Silas Reid with four co-defendants. The Insulate Britain supporter and Extinction Rebellion member was given a 12-month sentence, reduced to 10 months due to overcrowding.

Before she was sent to jail, Pritchard said: “I support and stand by proportionate and appropriate action to prevent harm. As Naomi Klein says ‘Our economic system and our planetary system are at war, only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it's not the laws of nature’. I call on people to continue to engage with injustice with as much courage as possible.”

Her co-defendants were given a total of 45 months of suspended sentences between them, plus 330 hours of unpaid work in their communities.

Pritchard has previously been jailed by Judge Reid after she blocked a City of London road. She was accused of causing a public nuisance after she and fellow supporter Giovanna Lewis glued themselves to the tarmac in Bishopsgate in October 2021.

The horticultural worker was jailed for seven weeks at HMP Bronzefield after breaking a court order not to cite the climate crisis in their defence at trial.

Pritchard was banned from voicing her concerns about fuel poverty or the environment in her defence - but did so anyway, explaining she felt she had a responsibility to "use her voice."

She previously spoke to the ECHO about her experience and said she would be “prepared to go to jail” again for her social beliefs. Pritchard claimed she spent time inside alongside people on remand accused of murder.

She said: “Going to prison was a big deal and now I feel I have a responsibility to tell that story for it to have meaning. It’s important for me to use my voice so people, who otherwise wouldn’t hear this story, will do now.

“The whole experience was incredibly stressful and difficult. I barely slept, there was lots of violence. Total chaos at times. I got moved cells six times and saw a lot of very unwell people."

The Liverpool ECHO approached HMP Bronzefield for comment but a spokesperson said they do not comment on individual cases.

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