Protester ‘shame on you’ tells judge after conviction for obstructing highway

A Just Stop Oil protester shouted “Shame on you” at a judge after she was found guilty, along with three other activists, of taking part in a protest that brought traffic to a standstill in central London.

Ben Plumpton, 70, of Charlestown, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, Gregory Sculthorpe, 38, of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Naomi Goddard, 60, of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and Kate Bramfitt, 52, of Hexham, Northumberland, were found guilty after a trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court of willfully obstructing a highway.

They were among 80 people who took part in the peaceful protest on November 6 last year, which passed the Cenotaph in Whitehall towards Parliament Square and caused major disruption.

The queues of traffic grew as they began to idle on the road for about 25 minutes, taking up two lanes but allowing cyclists to pass.

They were each given a conditional discharge for nine months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £26 and £310 costs – except Bramfitt, whose costs were reduced to £200 after she described herself as “economically inactive” and not being paid benefits.

Bramfitt then shouted at District Judge Patricia Evans before leaving the courtroom saying: “What you have done is disgraceful. How do you live with yourself?

“It’s shameful, all of you – you are criminalizing people who are fighting for their future. Shame on you, judge.

The court heard that the protesters did not inform police in advance about the protest and did not cooperate with officers when they were detained.

The judge said that “public safety had to be managed” and that “the impact of the protest quickly went from small to significant”.

The protesters sat or lay down after being arrested and knew their actions would cause disruption, the court was told.

The judge said: “Traffic on this occasion was barely slow and stopped whilst the arrests were made.”

Buses were late and detours were necessary, meaning the impact of the protest had “indirect effects”.

No advance notice of the demonstration was given by JSO, except to state that there would be a month of protest actions during this time of year.

Another defendant, Lora Johnson, 40, of Reydon, Suffolk, who stood trial in his absence, was found not guilty of the same offence.

She participated in a second march the same day that involved a group of about 25 women who held signs referring to mothers and grandmothers.

Their protest lasted around 15 minutes and “was short and had less impact on other road users”, said the judge.

Johnson did not appear in court, while the other defendants represented themselves during the two-day hearing.

Earlier, Bramfitt, who is a long-time environmental activist, said the protest was part of the “culmination of many actions” to try to make a difference.

She said she spoke to her congressman and her neighbors about the issue and mentioned the recent Hurricane Helene in the US.

Describing the legal process as “basically a nightmare” as she also cares for an elderly parent and has two children at university, she told the court: “I’m doing this to help my mental health because I feel like things are going to change. if enough people scream for change and argue against corruption.

“It took a huge mental toll. I have frequent migraines due to lack of sleep. I get exhausted because of the news and stuff.”

She added: “It just messes up your life, basically, and I feel like we shouldn’t have been arrested just for walking down the street.”

Plumpton told the court: “I feel we had to cause minimal disruption to be effective”, and said that when police spoke to her she felt “we had not caused enough disruption”.

She said she did not resist arrest and told the officer about her concerns for her granddaughter regarding climate change, about gas companies, and that a dossier had been sent to the Metropolitan Police.

She added: “I accept there has been some disruption. I think the disruption would be considerably less compared to the disruption caused by flooding.”