Insulate Britain protesters in custody after gluing themselves to court steps

Four protesters who were appearing at the High Court for alleged breaches of injunctions ‘defied’ the court proceedings on Tuesday.

(Left to right) Insulate Britain defendants Theresa Norton, 63, Dr Diana Warner, 62, El Litten, 35 and Steve Pritchard, 62, sitting outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as they decided not to return to the afternoon session of their committal hearing (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

Four Insulate Britain activists have been taken into custody after gluing themselves to the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London to “defy” injunction proceedings.

Theresa Norton, 63, Dr Diana Warner, 62, El Litten, 35, and Steve Pritchard, 62, were at the High Court on Tuesday – alongside other protesters – accused of breaching an injunction aimed at curbing the group’s climate change protests on the M25 in October last year.

But all four said they were resisting court proceedings by not attending the afternoon session of the hearing.

They glued themselves together on the steps at the front of the court, and the front gates of the building were locked, shutting them inside.

Insulate Britain claimed the four risked prison sentences for non-attendance at court.

In court, Lord Justice William Davis read out a note from the four protesters, which said: “The four of us feel we have to continue our resistance today because we don’t want to cooperate with a system which is causing so much death and hardship.”

The judge said he issued a bench warrant for the four activists that he hoped would be executed on Tuesday afternoon.

Police were later seen taking the protesters into custody after removing them from the steps one by one.

Fellow protesters cheered as they were led away, with the last of the four being removed by about 5.15pm.

The four protesters were among a group of 19 at court accused of breaching an injunction granted to National Highways, the organisation that manages England’s major roads.

A number of High Court injunctions against Insulate Britain’s road blockades have been previously granted to National Highways and Transport for London to prevent their disruptive protests.

National Highways sought to bring contempt of court proceedings against Arne Springorum, 49, Liam Norton, 37, and Jessica Causby, 25, after they took part in a protest on the motorway on November 2 last year.

But Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Johnson, said they had not breached an injunction and were “free to go”.

The other activists in court on Tuesday all admit or do not contest claims they breached a High Court injunction in relation to Insulate Britain protests between Junction 28 and 29 of the M25 on October 29 last year, according to National Highways’ written arguments.

Alongside Ms Norton, Dr Warner, Ms Litten, and Mr Pritchard, they include: Ben Taylor, 27; Ben Buse, 36; Biff Whipster, 54; David Nixon, 35; Gabriella Ditton, 28; Indigo Rumbelow, 27; Paul Sheeky, 46; Ruth Jarman, 58; Stephanie Aylett, 27; Stephen Gower, 55; Rev Sue Parfitt, 79; and Christian Rowe, 24.

National Highways said in written arguments that they “endangered the free flow of traffic” or “blocked, endangered, slowed down, prevented and obstructed the free flow of traffic”.

Owen Greenhall, who represented Ms Causby, as well as Dr Warner and Mr Buse, said the latter two intended not to break the court injunction again after previously receiving a prison sentence in December for another breach.

He said Mr Buse had decided to “move away from direct action” after seeing the impact of the earlier court proceedings on his family.

Dr Warner, who was handed a two-month prison term in December and released on January 14, will “continue to do everything she can to help save lives”, Mr Greenhall said.

Asking judges not to impose on her an immediate prison term, Mr Greenhall said the Bristol GP took “conscientious actions”.

Some protesters in court appeared wearing orange hi-vis vests, while Mr Taylor appeared from the courtroom dock as he continues to serve a six-month prison sentence imposed in November for a different injunction breach.

Representing himself, he told the judges that he had “nothing to hide” and admitted breaching the injunction on October 29 last year.

He said lockdown measures at HMP Thameside meant his prison time was “much more severe”.

Branding the injunction “absurd”, he said his ability to support his pregnant partner was also “severely restricted”.

He told the court: “I find it sickening, sad that people are unnecessarily suffering in their millions… increasingly in this country”, adding that there was a “climate emergency” that “our Government has openly recognised yet is not doing anything even remotely significant about”.

Other protesters gave at times emotional statements on their motivations and personal circumstances to the court and potential consequences of climate change.

They told judges they were “ashamed” of the Government had acted “out of love”.

Rev Parfitt, an Anglican priest, claimed a civil case had been brought against protesters for “political reasons”.

She accepted “inconvenience” had been caused by her actions and apologised, but added it had a “minimal effect” compared to “the utterly appalling degree of suffering and colossal degree of disruption which awaits us all if we do not take the action which is required now”.

The court is expected to sentence the remaining protesters at 3pm on Wednesday, following a hearing in the morning to deal with the four who refused to attend the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon.