Six climate change activists, including the founder of Just Stop Oil (JSO), have had their sentences reduced, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Roger Hallam and 15 other protesters were jailed last year for their roles in four demonstrations held by JSO, including climbing on gantries over the M25 and throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.

They challenged their sentences at the Court of Appeal, with their lawyers claiming they were “manifestly excessive”.

During the hearing on Friday, about two dozen JSO supporters stood up and turned their backs on the judges while wearing white T-shirts with the words “Corruption in Court”.

In their judgment, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Lavender and Mr Justice Griffiths ruled that six of the 16 should have their sentences reduced while dismissing the other appeals.

Hallam was originally jailed for five years for agreeing to disrupt traffic by having protesters climb onto gantries over the M25 for four successive days. His sentence was reduced to four years.

Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin originally received four-year jail terms for their involvement in the same protest.

Shaw’s and Lancaster’s sentences were reduced to three years, while Whittaker De Abreu’s and Gethin’s sentences were reduced to 30 months.

Gaie Delap, who was previously jailed for 20 months for her role in protests on the M25 during which they climbed onto gantries over the motorway, had her sentence reduced to 18 months.

Ten other protesters had their sentences upheld.

These included George Simonson, Theresa Higginson, Paul Bell and Paul Sousek for their roles in the M25 protests.

Larch Maxey, Chris Bennett, Samuel Johnson and Joe Howlett, who were jailed after occupying tunnels dug under the road leading to the Navigator Oil Terminal in Thurrock, Essex, also had their appeals dismissed.

The Court of Appeal also threw out the challenges of Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, who threw soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]

Source: www.bbc.com