Insulate Britain protests caused an ambulance to be delayed by nearly an hour, a court has heard. The Telegraph has more.
Climate protesters repeatedly brought the M25 to a standstill last September, and the impact of their actions emerged on Friday as three people admitted causing a public nuisance.
On September 15th, the protestors blocked the motorway at Junction 25 between 08:11 and 11:46 and caused a blockage of 43,952 vehicles with a loss of 5,644 vehicle hours at a financial cost of £83,452.
Prosecutor David Earl told Stratford magistrates’ court that an ambulance was 55 minutes late to a chest pain emergency callout and a funeral director was 30 minutes late to a funeral.
Referring to an earlier protest on September 13 at Junction 14 of the M25, Mr Earl said: “The duration was between 08:43 and 11:41. It is estimated that 42,970 vehicles were affected with 1,449 vehicle hours lost and it is calculated that the financial impact was £62,669.
“There is evidence of impact to the public. A woman, who was two hours late to visit her 95-year-old mother who had a fall while she was waiting; a tutor of special needs students and other teachers who were delayed in attending work and disruption was caused to students of those lessons.
“There was also a pilot who missed his flight to Gibraltar which had to be rescheduled.”
Sue Spencer-Longhurst, 69, of Oxford, along with Michelle Charlesworth, 55, and Meredith Williams, 51, both of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, admitted two counts of causing a public nuisance.
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