Co-Founder of Just Stop Oil Escapes Jail in Plot to ‘Disrupt’ Heathrow with Drones

The co-founder of Just Stop Oil, Roger Hallam, has been given a suspended prison sentence after plotting to “paralyse” London’s Heathrow airport by flying dozens of drones near the runway.

Roger Hallam, 57, was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court last year along with Larch Maxey, 51.

They had denied conspiracy to cause a public nuisance and claimed it had been “merely a publicity exercise.”

On Friday the pair were sentenced, along with Michael Lynch-White, who had pleaded guilty.

Hallam and Maxey were sentenced to two years in jail each, suspended for 18 months.

Lynch-White was given a 17-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Hallam Ordered to do 200 Hours of Unpaid Work

Hallam was told to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, Maxey has to complete 300 hours and Lynch-White 262 hours.

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All three defendants will also have to complete 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC said there was evidence Extinction Rebellion members chose not to become involved in the plot because they thought the “plans to be too extreme.”

The judge accepted the drones “did not cause any disruption to flights.”

He said the plan was for the September 2019 protest, which was dubbed Heathrow Pause, to go viral and shut down the airport while also leading to lots of publicity.

The court heard 1,600 police officers’ shifts had to be moved and the cost to the public was at least £1 million.

Hallam, who also co-founded Extinction Rebellion, told police during an interview he had wanted to, “close Heathrow for the foreseeable future.”

Hallam, Maxey, and Lynch-White plotted to close Heathrow with “unauthorised and unlawful flying” of drones within the airport’s flight restriction zone.

Prosecutor Said Plotters Had ‘Most Laudable Aims’

Mr. Curtis told the jury the plotters may have had the “most laudable aims—to save the planet from imminent destruction.”

But he said, “This case is not about the merits of the various measures which are desired to save the planet nor is it about the beliefs of the people who want to achieve those ends.”

“This case is about the closure of Heathrow airport in the short term or, as they contemplated, in the long term, closing it down to world traffic,” he added.

He said the operators of the airport were aware of the “risk of potential catastrophe” if drones were flown near planes’ flight paths and he said, “As operators concerned primarily with safety, they would have to scramble their ultimate safety measure (closure of the airport).”

The prosecutor said: “There is a terrible danger for aircraft being struck or nearly struck by flying objects. It would be a risk that the operators would not be able to afford to take with human beings or vital cargo on board and with homes nearby on the ground beneath.”

Mr. Curtis said the plotters’ “stated aim, made in note after note, public pronouncement after public pronouncement, was to paralyse the major transport hub of Great Britain, which is also the busiest in Europe.”

He said they wanted to close the airport, “not just for an hour or so but a week, two weeks” or “an indistinct period.”

Plot to Paralyse ‘Major Organ of the Country’

Mr. Curtis said the eco-activists wanted to force the government and Parliament to scrap the proposed third runway at Heathrow and sought to do this by, “paralysing a major organ of the country and forcing Heathrow to shut down.”

He said the plot was dangerous because most of them had little or no experience of flying drones or of the world of aviation.

The prosecutor said the activists claimed they had taken stringent safety measures to avoid accidents was “pie in the sky.”

Mr. Curtis said they also ignored “the vast economic damage” to the airport and to those who were travelling because they were on a “mission of ideals.”

A fourth defendant, Valerie Milner-Brown, 71, was acquitted of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

PA Media contributed to this report.