The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has received a 15-month suspended jail sentence after a marathon legal battle over her breaking a pane of glass.
Dr Gail Bradbrook was convicted last month of causing more than £27,500 of damage to the Department for Transport. At Isleworth Crown Court, Judge Martin Edmunds KC said Bradbrook had a conscientious motive but that did not excuse her actions.
In October 2019, during XR's second major protest that brought traffic chaos to parts of central London, Bradbrook climbed on to an entrance canopy at the headquarters of the Department for Transport (DfT). She used tools to break a large pane of reinforced security glass, which cost £27,660 to replace.
During her police interview, she said she had been trying to stop crimes against humanity and "had permission from nature" to break the window. Over two trials she tried to make similar arguments despite being repeatedly directed not to do so by the judge.
During the sentencing hearing, she accused judges of "mansplaining". Bradbrook, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, was joined by a group of supporters dressed as suffragettes.
On Monday, Bradbrook told Judge Edmunds: "It can't be that there's compelling, objective evidence of a threat to life, and that's just completely irrelevant to the whole legal process." She accused the courts of "condescension" and treating activists "as if we were acting in good faith but slightly deranged".
Becoming tearful, she concluded: "God help us... life is being actively killed. We are compelled to act. The court systems of the UK are on trial, not myself. I wonder how history will judge this sentencing."
Judge Edmunds said the damage and disruption caused by Bradbrook meant she would normally have been jailed, but suspended her prison sentence. She was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
