Dr Patrick Hart: Just Stop Oil petrol station sabotage court case - From the archives

From the archives - an updateToday we bring you an episode from the archives with Dr Patrick Hart. Patrick took action in August 2022 to demand an end to new licences and consents for oil and gas projects in the UK, something which has subsequently become government policy. He disabled petrol pumps at an Esso garage on the M25 on the 24th August 2022.On August 24, 2022, he disabled petrol pumps at an Esso garage near the M25. He was found guilty of Criminal Damage in October 2024 and appeared before Judge Mills at Chelmsford Crown Court on January 7 of this year.Dr. Hart has already been fined in civil court for this action, as the Thurrock Esso petrol station is subject to a private injunction. He has also been referred for a disciplinary hearing by the General Medical Council (GMC) and will face a tribunal. In the past 12 months, the GMC has suspended two doctors from the medical register following convictions for non-violent climate protests. Dr. Hart now faces penalties in three separate proceedings for the same incident.Before sentencing Dr Hart said:“Right now, the greatest health threat to all of us is the unfolding climate catastrophe. It is the greatest health threat we have ever faced. All healthcare workers have a responsibility to protect the health of their patients. If we do not stand up to the oil and gas executives who are wreaking havoc on our climate and the politicians who enable them, if we do not end the burning of fossil fuels, then we will have failed as a profession and the health systems that we have developed over centuries will collapse. I will continue to fight against the death sentence of fossil fuels for as long as I have strength in me. I have no greater duty as a doctor at this moment in history.”Original copy:Just Stop Oil protestors have been disrupting business as usual since April 2022. A Daily Mail article called them “a deranged criminal eco-terrorist cult”. But who are the people behind the headlines? Neil sits down with Dr Patrick Hart, a local GP who has been putting his career and liberty on the line through direct action protests, including the smashing and spray painting of a petrol station. Dr Hart believes we have run out of time for purely legal ways of pulling the world back from what the UN has called “the brink of climate catastrophe”. But are these tactics effective? Are protestors losing public sympathy? Does that matter? Listen in for a conversation far and away from the soundbites of Good Morning Britain