Chris Packham has told a court he 'selectively' supports Just Stop Oil at the trial of an activist who scaled a gantry above the M25.
The BBC broadcaster made the comments while giving evidence as a defence witness in the trial of Cambridge music student Cressida Gethin.
The 22-year-old activist scaled the motorway near Heathrow as part of a protest by the group on July 20, 2022. She denies one count of causing a public nuisance contrary to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Mr Packham was among those stuck for four to five hours because of the disruption - a day after the UK's hottest temperature of more than 40C had been recorded - as he travelled from Hampshire to Surrey.
He told Isleworth Crown Court he came to 'sympathise' with the fact he was forced to think about climate change, whilst also be concerned that he would be late to the recordings of the BBC's Inside Our Autistic Minds programme.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Neil Griffin, he insisted his support for Just Stop Oil is selective and conditional.
The defendant broke down in tears at points during cross-examination as she insisted she faced a 'massive moral dilemma' by engaging in the protest.
The defendant, who has taken two years out of her studies, told the court she did not believe all lanes would end up closed and that she did not realise she was so close to Heathrow during the protest.
When asked whether she intended to cause 'spectacular disruption', she told the court she did not but soon 'realised this was potentially a more effective protest than I thought it would be'.
She does not dispute scaling the gantry but denies that it amounts to the charge against her.
The trial continues.
