One of the leaders of the eco-activist movement has been charged alongside seven others with an alleged plot to cause disruption to the M25 motorway.
Roger Hallam, 56, was among the group of people arrested by the Metropolitan Police in pre-emptive attempts to thwart the latest wave of Just Stop Oil protests.
Scotland Yard said on Sunday it was targeting activists suspected of plotting to cause “reckless and serious disruption to the public”, and on Tuesday morning it announced that eight people have been charged.
Hallam, from Walworth, is accused of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance and was due to appear at Westminster magistrates court later on Tuesday.
He is a co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion movement and is involved in protest groups including Animal Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil.
Co-defendants Tim Hewes, 72, from Wantage, Oxfordshire, Daniel Shaw, 36, Ian Bates, 63, and Alexander Wilcox, 21, all of Northampton, Christopher White, 29, from Yeovil, Karen Matthews, 60, of Overstone, Northamptonshire, and Louise Lancaster, 57, of Cambridge, are also due to appear in court.
According to the charges, they are acused of plotting that “persons would climb upon gantries on the M25 Motorway and by doing so the Motorway had to be closed to enable that person to be safely removed”.
It is said the protests “obstructed the public or a section of the public in the exercise or enjoyment of a right that may be exercised or enjoyed by the public at large.”
On Sunday, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the force had “strong reason to suspect the Just Stop Oil group intend to disrupt major motorway road networks which would risk serious harm to the public, with reckless action to obstruct the public on a large scale.”
Despite the police operation, activists did bring disruption to the M25 on Monday by scaling overhead gantries, causing traffic to be stopped at various points on the motorway.
In its statement announcing the criminal charges, the Met added: “We expect to publish details of further charges later today.”
According to court lists, Callum Goode, 23, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, Darcy Mitchell, 47, from Totnes in Devon, Catherine Rennie-Nash, 50, from Kendal in Cumbria, Anna Retellack, 58, from Falmouth in Cornwall, Anthony Whitehouse, 71, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, and Arne Springorum, 50, of no fixed address, have all been charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance.
It is said they “caused the M25 motorway to close” on November 7 at various junctions in Surrey.
Around 15 activists scaled overhead metal structures at a number of junctions on the motorway at about 7am, with one protester climbing a gantry on the north-bound lane of the M25 at the Dartford crossing.
The Dartford tunnel was shut from around 7.30am but reopened shortly beore 9am, though traffic was left tailing back for six miles.
Officers from Hertfordshire Police, Essex Police and Surrey Police remained at various locations around the M25, dealing with other protests. At least four activists have been arrested.
