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78-year-old activist challenges government protest law
A grandmother from Montpelier has launched a legal challenge against a controversial government protest law.
78-year-old Gaie Delap was given a 20-month prison sentence for her role in a 2022 Just Stop Oil protest on the M25.
She began serving her sentence in August 2024 and was released on home detention curfew in November, only to be returned to prison in December due to the government’s difficulty in finding an electronic tag that was “small enough” to fit her wrists.
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She was released again in January and has since been serving the rest of her sentence from home.
Gaie has now initiated a legal challenge, alongside broadcaster and fellow environmental activist Chris Packham, to challenge the very law she was charged under.
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Gaie received a 20-month prison sentence after she plead guilty to ‘intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance’ under Section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act proved controversial when it was first proposed as a bill in 2021, leading to protests across the country including the ‘Kill the Bill’ protest in Bristol which, while initially peaceful, culminated in a riot.
Although the bill was ultimately passed, many human rights groups continue to raise concerns about this law’s impact on public protest.
Human rights group Liberty have described the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act as “a clampdown on protest“.
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In June, Gaie Delap and Chris Packham, with the support of social justice law firm Leigh Day, sent a letter to the director of public prosecutions and the secretary of state for justice.
In the letter, they ask the pair to urgently reconsider how Section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act is interpreted and enforced.
Section 78 states that someone has committed the offence of ‘intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance’ if they do, or fail to do something required by law, that creates a risk of harm to the public or ‘obstructs’ the public ‘in the exercise or enjoyment of a right that may be exercised’.
Gaie and Chris argue Section 78 is currently so broad that “it risks criminalising entirely peaceful environmental protests and fails to offer sufficient protection for the rights to freedom of speech and assembly under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights”.
They hope the government will agree with them.
If not, the activist duo intend to apply for judicial review of Section 78 and are currently crowdfunding to raise money for this.
Gaie said: “Peaceful protests are not a crime. I went to prison for standing up for a liveable planet – something that should be the right of every citizen, not punished with jail time.
“This law doesn’t just target people like me, it threatens anyone who cares enough to speak out. I took action because I believe we have a moral responsibility to protect the Earth for future generations.”
Gaie Delap will appear alongside Blue, an activist from Trans Kids Deserve Better, and criminal lawyer Raj Chada on the final day of Harbour Festival on July 20.
They will all be speaking as part of a Good Law Project panel on protest rights.
Main photo: Just Stop Oil
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