More Insulate Britain protestors vow to go on hunger strike if they are jailed today
Insulate Britain protestors vow to go on hunger strike if they are jailed today at High Court – as one eco-zealot says she is too busy to turn up because she is on another demo
Nine activists were due to face contempt of court proceedings on Tuesday Insulate Britain say one activist has defied court summons to attend a protestA previously jailed activist was not brought to court due to ‘administrative error’Comes a month after protesters were jailed for breaching High Court injunctionsThe group disrupted traffic on the M25, as well as on other roads in English cities
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A group of Insulate Britain activists have arrived at the High Court, where they could face jail for allegedly breaching injunctions aimed at curbing their climate change protests – but one eco-zealot has not turned up because she is attending another demonstration.
Nine people were due to face contempt of court proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, but two protesters have not appeared this morning.
Insulate Britain say Dr Diana Warner, a retired GP from Bristol, has defied the court summons to take part in another protest in Yorkshire this morning, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest after repeated attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.
Dr Ben Buse, who was among a previous nine activists to receive a prison sentence, was not brought to court due to an administrative error.
The remaining seven are Ruth Jarman, Biff Whipster, Paul Sheeky, Richard Ramsden, Stephen Gower, Steven Pritchard and the Rev Sue Parfitt.
Lord Justice Dingemans issued a warrant for the arrest of Dr Diana Warner, 62, from Bristol, who Insulate Britain say did not attend court as she is taking part in action in Yorkshire to disrupt a train headed for the Drax power station.
Catherine Oborne, for Warner, said repeated attempts had been made to contact her over the last 24 hours, but were unsuccessful.
Their court appearance comes almost a month after nine Insulate Britain protesters were given jail sentences ranging between three and six months for breaching High Court injunctions, and each were ordered to pay £5,000.
Insulate Britain supporters (L to R) Paul Sheekey, Rev Sue Parfitt, Biff Whipster, Ruth Jarman, Steve Pritchard, Steve Gower, Richard Ramsden outside the High Court
Today’s court appearance comes almost a month after nine Insulate Britain protesters were given jail sentences ranging between three and six months for breaching High Court injunctions, and each were ordered to pay £5,000. Pictured, supports of the nine jailed activists take part in a demonstration in London on November 20
Insulate Britain say Dr Diana Warner (pictured), a retired GP from Bristol, has defied the court summons to take part in another protest in Yorkshire this morning, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest after repeated attempts to contact her were unsuccessful
Speaking outside the court, Mr Pritchard, a property maintenance worker from Radstock in Somerset, said: ‘I’m obviously nervous.
‘The expectation is that I and the other defendants will have a custodial sentence. So, I’m fully expecting to go to prison.’
The 62-year-old added: ‘There are some circumstances under which I would consider going on hunger strike.
‘There’s not a lot to me, so I suspect it wouldn’t be a very long hunger strike.
‘I would become seriously ill and die.
‘But it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.’
Mr Pritchard’s threat of a hunger strike comes a day after a jailed Insulate Britain protester ended her hunger strike after 26 days.
Emma Smart, 44, had been under medical supervision on the hospital wing at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, since November 26 after refusing to eat food.
She is now almost four weeks into a four-month prison sentence for contempt of court for breaching a National Highways injunction on protesting on the M25.
Smart originally vowed to go on hunger strike ‘until the government issues a meaningful statement to get on with the job of insulating Britain’s leaky homes’.
But the Extinction Rebellion offshoot said the protester from Weymouth, Dorset, ended this strike yesterday after receiving a letter from Sir Richard Drax.
Insulate Britain said the Conservative MP ‘wrote to express concern for Emma’s welfare and to request a visit, which is likely to happen within a couple of weeks’.
Jailed Insulate Britain activist Emma Smart, 44, of Weymouth, Dorset, pictured with her niece
Smart was imprisoned with eight other people from Insulate Britain. One of the group’s protests is pictured on October 13, which blocked the M26 at junction 31 in Thurrock, Essex
Fellow protester Rev Parfitt, an Anglican priest from Bristol who faces the High Court, today said: ‘It’s a pretty scary sort of experience.
‘I feel deeply called to do this because I think it’s the only kind of action left to do in the dire (climate) emergency we are in.’
The 79-year-old said she will not go on hunger strike should she be sent to prison, as others have done.
She said: ‘It is extreme action that we have taken, and we shall continue to take when we are out of prison, because what else can we do?
‘At my age, what have I got to lose? I have everything to gain in the sense of doing what I believe to be God’s will – that gives me total contentment and peace of mind.’
Police arrest retired vicar Sue Parfitt on Bishopsgate in London. She was arrested a total of nine times in just six weeks. The 79-year-old is among a group of people facing the High Court this morning
A further 17 climate activists face being summoned to the High Court at later dates, the group said last month.
Insulate Britain is demanding that the Government insulate Britain’s ‘leaky homes’ to avoid deaths caused by fuel poverty.
Since September, the group has disrupted traffic on the M25, as well as on other roads in London, Dover, Birmingham and Manchester.
Videos showing furious motorists dragging the climate activists away from the blockades previously have gone viral on a number of occasions.
A number of High Court injunctions against the group’s road blockades have been granted to Transport for London and National Highways to prevent their disruptive protests.
Those who breach the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.
The hearing before Lord Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Johnson is due to start at 10.30am today.
