Southwold woman among Just Stop Oil protestors guilty of blocking traffic in London

Six Just Stop Oil protesters - including a Suffolk woman - have been found guilty of disrupting traffic near the Natural History Museum during a protest in central London.

Lora Johnson, who's 38 and from Southwold, was found guilty of wilful obstruction of the highway along with Benjamin Larsen, 25, Ben Sansam, 38, Anna Retallack, 58, Stephen Jarvis, 66, and Rachel Payne, 71, at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

They were among 17 people who sat on the junction of Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road in central London on October 19, causing traffic queues in both directions on the dual carriageway, the court heard.

It marked the 19th consecutive day of disruption in the capital caused by Just Stop Oil.

Police footage of a nurse caught up in the traffic jam was played during the trial.

The footage, from the bodycam of Met Police Constable Daniel Woodley, showed a woman approach the constable as he walked between queueing vehicles, telling him: "I'm a nurse waiting to do swabs on a VIP, do you mind if I do a U-ey (U-turn)?"

Pc Woodley said the nurse had been on her way to attend a 90-year-old patient who was "in desperate need of care" - however Retallack, who was self-representing, contested this.

Retallack said the nurse had mentioned an elderly patient, and the officer had confused her with another motorist who complained of being late to a "meeting" with a 90-year-old.

The bodycam footage was played twice in court, showing that the nurse did not reference a 90-year-old patient.

Police Sergeant Kevin Nelson, who led the Met's response to the demonstration, told the court that when his team arrived at 10am there was a traffic queue of "a least a few hundred yards" in each direction.

The Met sergeant of 16 years said that each defendant except Johnson had glued themselves to the road, and that all six were arrested between 10.29am and 10.38am.

Sgt Nelson acknowledged that Just Stop Oil typically ensure that some members are not glued to the ground so that they can assist the safe passage of emergency vehicles.

He added that he was not aware of any ambulances being delayed by the October 19 demonstration.

Sgt Nelson described four motorists at the scene who expressed "frustration", including a van driver who asked the demonstrators "Have you not got jobs?" and a bus driver who "was pleading" with them to move.

He added that in policing terms "the protest was not proportional to disruption to the local community".

Johnson, a campaigner and former chef living in Brislington, Bristol, said she joined the protest because she does not believe her seven-year-old son has a "liveable future".

Retallack, who was a social worker for decades before becoming an upholsterer based in Falmouth, Cornwall, said she felt obliged to take disruptive action because "all legal forms of protest are a complete waste of time".

She said: "We had some really amazing, positive interactions with the public that day, and we wouldn't have had those interactions if we had sat on the side of the road."

Jarvis, from Bideford, Devon, added: "Our actions have borne fruit in that both the Labour Party and the Lib Dems have included not licensing new oil and gas as part of their manifestos.

"So at least half of the political landscape is now listening. That provides some indication that what we're doing, although it might be against the law, is on the right side of history."

Larsen, from Cheshire and who works in forestry and land management, said: "In my view, it's a political decision to prosecute me today, and it's embarrassing that the UK Government and judiciary are going down that route."

Larsen and Jarvis were ordered to pay £480 each, including a £200 fine, £200 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Sansam, from Bristol, Johnson, Retallack and Payne received a 12-month conditional discharge and were ordered to pay £226, including £200 costs and a £26 victim surcharge.

Sheila Shatford, 67, admitted guilt to one count of wilfully obstructing a highway during the trial and will be sentenced on Thursday at Westminster Magistrate's Court.