Two protesters from the group Just Stop Oil used ropes and other climbing equipment to cross the bridge where they held up a banner. Obga got a jail sentence for it.
Forty-year-old Morgan Truland will spend three years behind bars, while 34-year-old Marcus Decker will serve two years and seven months. Judge Shane Collery justified the decision by saying that Trowland, who has six previous convictions related to the protest, should have played a “leading role” in hanging the banner on the bridge. Decker has one protest-related conviction on his criminal record, so his sentence is a bit lighter.
update from #QEIIBridge – “We’re just attaching some ropes to make it more interesting.”
Our corrupt politics is responsible for this disorder, and it will end at the Governor #EndNewOilandGas
Donates https://t.co/HBHsudE9Sn# Free Lewis # Free Josh #soup pic.twitter.com/MESDohMtuK
– Just stop the oil (JustStop_Oil) October 17, 2022
“You must be punished for the chaos you have caused and also to deter others from inspiring,” the judge said.
“I am absolutely horrified and disgusted by what happened here today, it was not at all about justice,” said Rachel Puslerova, a spokeswoman for the Just Stop Oil movement.
Last October, members of the Just Stop Oil group climbed to a height of about 60 meters on one of the pillars of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge with climbing equipment. in Dartford, East London. They wanted to protest against the government’s plans to grant new licenses for oil and gas extraction.
The police had to close the bridge and bring a crane to the site to take the activists down. Cars could not pass there for more than 40 hours, which created huge traffic jams and many kilometers of queues.