Jailed UK Climate Campaigner Enters Fifth Day of Hunger Strike, Insulate Britain Says

LONDON (Sputnik) – A climate campaigner from the Insulate Britain movement who was sentenced to four months in jail for breaching a court order banning them from blocking major roads in and around London, is on the fifth day of her hunger strike at the Bronzefield female prison southwest England, the ecological group reported on Monday.

“Today is the fifth day I have refused to eat and I will continue to do so until the government issues a meaningful statement to get on with the job of insulating Britain’s leaky homes,” Emma Smart, 44, said in a statement released by Insulate Britain’s press team.

Last week, a London High Court judge found Smart and another eight climate activists guilty of contempt of court for breaking the National Highways’ M25 injunction and sentenced them to between three and six months in jail.

The judge also ordered the nine to pay costs of £5,000 ($6,720) each and said all the defendants should serve at least half of their sentence.

The campaign group has been staging sit-down protests on the M25 highway encircling Greater London and other major roads across England since September despite the court issuing four injunctions banning them from the roads.

According to Insulate Britain, which is demanding the UK government to insulate and retrofit homes to tackle climate change, 8,500 deaths in an average British winter are the result of cold homes.

Nine more campaigners have received a High Court summons, although a committal hearing date for the next group has not yet been specified, the ecological movement said.

On Saturday, hundreds of people blocked two bridges over the Thames River in central London in solidarity with the activists sent to prison.

The Metropolitan Police announced that 124 protesters had been arrested and later released under investigation.