High Peak dad risks arrest at Just Stop Oil climate protest 12 weeks after conviction

Paul Barnes, 43, was one of 22 JSO supporters who marched slowly down Cromwell Road in Kensington on Friday, May 12, in a bid to disrupt morning rush hour traffic and highlight their campaign to end new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

In February, Paul, a design manager and father of two, was found guilty of aggravated trespass for his part in blockading a Birmingham fuel terminal in April 2022. He was reportedly ordered to pay £522 to Wolverhampton Magistrates Court and sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, but that experience has not dented his sense of moral conviction.

Paul said: “I will continue to do all I can to protect my loved ones. I hear my children talk about what they want to be when they grow up, so I am taking action now to protect them, before it’s too late.

“The politicians and corporate media spread lies and propaganda to serve corporate interests. This is whilst ordinary people prop up what’s left of this country as wages, public services and our rights are stripped away.”

He added: “Our government needs to follow the scientific warnings – that’s my family, your children and our grandchildren, not having food to survive, as crops fail due to climate breakdown.

“We must end the fossil fuel era. It must be now, or we will have no way back to fix the damage we’ve done and are doing.”

While Paul’s march was dispersed within an hour after police imposed a Public Order Act (Section 12) notice, no arrests were made on this occasion.

On Thursday, May 11, police issued a Section 12 notice covering the entirety of London's roads, targeted at Just Stop Oil supporters as they continue a rolling programme of slow marches around the capital.

That same day, 13 protesters linked to the group were arrested for peacefully marching outside the Houses of Parliament, detained for 19 hours and eventually charged with breaching the same Act.

The controversial piece of legislation came into force on May 3, and critics and civil liberties experts say it has given police and prosecutors free rein to crush civil disobedience with longer jail sentences and larger fines – specifically designed to limit the impact of pressure groups such as JSO and Extinction Rebellion.

A JSO spokesperson said: “This government is engaged in a wholesale assault on our human rights: migrants rights, workers rights, protest rights – nothing is sacred. The Public Order Act has criminalised peaceful dissent.

“Just Stop Oil will march in solidarity with all people affected by this authoritarian assault on our democratic right to protest.”

Since the JSO campaign launched in February 2022, there have been more than 2,100 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. Two supporters are currently serving three year prison sentences.

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