Government ministers and police bosses want judges to hand tougher sentences to deter Just Stop Oil protesters from targeting sporting events.
According to The Times:
They are urging courts to do more than simply consider protests in isolation and are examining new sentencing guidelines for public order offences.
Factors such as the wider risk to the public of pitch invasions and stunts and the reputational damage to Britain’s ability to host sporting events without disruption should be taken into account, ministers and police believe.
Just Stop Oil said yesterday that it applauded the actions of a woman who threw orange confetti at the former chancellor George Osborne and his new wife, Thea Rogers, as they left their wedding ceremony on Saturday, although the group said the “lone-wolf” protester was not a member.
Proposals for combating the group were discussed in No 10 at a meeting on Wednesday chaired by Suella Braverman, the home secretary, and Chris Philp, the policing minister, with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and representatives from every big sport in Britain.
Police chiefs pointed to the jailing in April of two Just Stop Oil protesters, who brought gridlock to the Dartford Crossing for two days after scaling the bridge, as evidence of when tough sentencing can have a deterrent effect.
Morgan Trowland, 40, was jailed for three years and Marcus Decker, 34, for two years and seven months for causing public nuisance. The maximum punishment for public nuisance is ten years but the sentences were longer than either individual, or prosecutors, were expecting.
Police chiefs at the No 10 meeting pointed out that there had not been any Just Stop Oil protests on major roads since the pair were jailed. Instead the group has adopted slow-walking tactics and disrupting sporting events.
A source in the meeting said: “The police made the point that they think tougher sentences are the strongest deterrence. Since the Dartford Bridge protesters were jailed, we’ve not seen a repeat of the M25 protests.
It sent a chill through the groups in terms of what they’re willing to do, and that’s why you’ve seen a change in tactics to slow-walking and sporting events.”
A sporting industry source said: “The more these protesters are locked up, the more it will act as a deterrent and make it easier to stop JSO disrupting events.”
The jails to which accused or convicted protesters were sent was also discussed as a deterrent. A protester awaiting trial on charges of disrupting a horse-race this year is in Belmarsh, south London, one of Britain’s highest-security jails, The Times understands.
