Just Stop Oil protester Dr Patrick Hart has been jailed for a year after he disabled petrol pumps at Esso Thurrock Services on the M25 on August 24, 2022.
Hart appeared before Judge Mills at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this week after being found guilty in October 2024 of criminal damage.
During his trial Hart said he ‘damaged the petrol pump screens as an act of care, because in times of great peril, a caring person has to stand up for what is right’.
Hart had already faced civil charges for this action and been fined, as the Thurrock Esso petrol station is subject to a private injunction. He will also face a tribunal after being referred for a disciplinary hearing by his professional regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC). In the last 12 months, the GMC has suspended two doctors from the medical register following their convictions for climate protests.
