Leader of green zealots is locked up on plot charge
THE leader of the Just Stop Oil move- ment was held in custody last night after being arrested over an alleged plot to bring mayhem to the M25.
Former organic farmer Roger Hallam, 56, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday after a police raid on Sunday.
Hallam and seven others – including Reverend Tim Hewes, 72 – were charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Hallam did not enter a plea.
Prosecutor Tom Heslop told the court: ‘On 2 November there was a Zoom meeting between members of Just Stop Oil, planning on blocking the M25.’
Group members were heard saying if there was anyone at the meeting ‘not prepared to commit, they should leave,’ the court was told.
Just Stop Oil has been staging nationwide protests in a bid to pressure the government to drop all new oil and gas licences.
Hallam was remanded in custody and his case was sent to be dealt with by Southwark Crown Court on December 6. The suspected protest mastermind was supported at court yesterday by his 24-year-old German lover Frieda Luerken, said to be the same age as his eldest daughter.
Hallam and Miss Luerken reportedly met when she was studying psychology at Cardiff University, before moving in together in London.
Before his arrest, he was pictured holding hands with Miss Luerken on a walk in Walworth, south London, close to their love nest, which is said to cost £3,000-a-month in rent.
Hallam is said to have lived with Miss Luerken when he studied disruptive campaigns at King’s College London. She is reported to have helped him ‘organise the coming revolution’ from their upmarket flat, according to The Sun newspaper.
The pair are said to have founded Extinction Rebellion together before creating Insulate Britain as a ‘lockdown love child’ and later branching out to help run Just Stop Oil.
He and Miss Luerken have moved property several times in recent years, with Hallam getting by with monthly donations from supporters.
Hallam recently wrote online: ‘Myself and my partner Frieda are now in a permanent rented flat. It has a spare room in which to organise the coming revolution. It is perfect. But I need money to afford it.’
Miss Luerken describes her profession on LinkedIn as Movement Accelerator Coordinator for the International Planned Parenthood Federation pressure group.
‘Organise the coming revolution’