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Father of 3 home for Christmas after we help him appeal
Climate crisis protester is the first to have been sentenced with jail time for the controversial new Section 7 offence. We funded his bail application and will support him to appeal this draconian sentence.
Monkey Butler Images / Shutterstock
Case overview
Stephen Gingell, a father of three from Manchester has been granted bail today thanks to Good Law Project funding his application for appeal. Gingell received the maximum 6 months sentence from a magistrate’s court for slow marching in protest.
During an organised march in Brent, protesting against new oil and gas licenses, Gringell and more than 100 other protesters were quickly arrested under oppressive new police powers sanctioned by the controversial Public Order Act 2023.
Section 7 of the Act bans any action that interferes with the use of any key national infrastructure in England and Wales, including printing presses, power plants, oil and gas extraction or distribution sites.
Good Law Project is concerned that the new offence will deter people from exercising even the most traditional and commonplace forms of protest against the Government and that Stephen’s excessive prison sentence was designed to do just that.
We are working with Hodge Jones & Allen solicitors to fund Stephen’s appeal to the sentence, which we hope will prevent the father of 3 from being torn away from his children and bring public awareness to the tyrannical treatment of protesters by the state.
Part of campaign:
Stop silencing protest
Defending the rights of protesters to hold power to account