Protester delayed 4,000 plane passengers

A Just Stop Oil protester delayed 4,000 plane passengers in a protest against the UK reaching the hottest temperature on record, a court heard.

Cambridge University music student Cressida Gethin, 22, scaled a gantry above the M25 near Heathrow on July 20 2022, the day after the UK recorded a temperature of over 40C for the first time.

As a result of the protest by the climate activist group, 3,923 British Airways customers were affected by cancellations and delays, said senior manager at British Airways, Edwin Hall.

Broadcaster and environmentalist Chris Packham, 62, told Isleworth Crown Court in west London on Wednesday that he was stuck in the traffic for four to five hours.

He told jurors he came to “sympathise” with the fact he was forced to think about climate change while he waited.

During her trial, Gethin, who has taken two years out of her university studies, said she aimed to “interrupt business as usual” and draw media attention to the “dire situation” represented by the temperature in Britain.

That day, news of the protest aired on Good Morning Britain before she had scaled the gantry, she said.

The defendant added that she did not realise she was so close to Heathrow and did not choose the location.

Prosecutor Neil Griffin told the court that Gethin refused to come down despite police requests to do so and warnings she was causing disruption.

He said: “It’s not for one individual to say I believe in this so I’m going to stop you from using this motorway, I’m going to make your life miserable for hours and hours and hours.”

The defendant does not dispute scaling the gantry but denies that it amounts to the charge she faces of causing a public nuisance.

The trial continues.