Morgan Trowland
 Morgan Trowland  (activist, engineer) | |
|---|---|
 60 metres up on the QEII suspension bridge | |
| Born | 1983 |
| Interests | Just Stop Oil |
Morgan Trowland is a British environmental activist who made history in October 2022 with fellow Just Stop Oil campaigner Marcus Decker in one of the most dramatic climate protest events to press for an end to further fossil fuel exploration and for urgent action to tackle global warming.
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Dartford Crossing Bridge protest
At 3am on 17 October 2022, Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland scaled 60 metres (200ft) up the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge in Dartford, Kent, sitting astride the cables of the bridge struts to inch their way to the top before releasing a Just Stop Oil banner. Decker and Trowland remained in place in hammocks for almost 40 hours before being removed by police.
Conviction
The eye-catching protest by Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland received a similarly dramatic response after they were convicted by a jury at Southend Crown Court of causing a public nuisance. Decker was imprisoned for two years and seven months and Trowland for three years. Passing down the longest sentences in UK history for non-violent direct action, Judge Shane Collery said he wanted to deter others from copycat actions. The men, he said, had caused a very important road to be closed, and disrupted travel for many tens of thousands of people. The Judge looked at the press gallery as he said to both of them
"You plainly believed you knew better than everyone else … In short, to hell with everyone else."[1]
Intervention by UN rapporteur
Long sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil protesters for scaling the M25 bridge over the Thames are a potential breach of international law and risk silencing public concerns about the environment, a UN expert has said.
In a strongly worded intervention, Ian Fry, the UN’s rapporteur for climate change and human rights, said he was “particularly concerned” about the sentences, which were “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past”.
- “I am gravely concerned about the potential flow-on effect that the severity of the sentences could have on civil society and the work of activists, expressing concerns about the triple planetary crisis and, in particular, the impacts of climate change on human rights and on future generations.”
- Noting Decker and Trowland’s rights to peaceful protest, Fry asked the UK government to explain “why, in light of the current climate crisis, it was necessary to introduce and pass the Public Order Act and how both the Public Order Act and the sentencing of Mr Decker and Mr Trowland are compatible with international norms and standards”, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- He demanded ministers indicate “what steps have been taken … to ensure that non–governmental organisations, civil society organisations and all human rights defenders can carry out their peaceful work free from threat, violence, harassment or retaliation or any sort”.[2]
Appeal to Supreme Court refused
On 12 October 2023, refusing to allow an Appeal to the Supreme Court, Lady Chief Justice Lady Carr said the jail terms were "not excessive" and the sentences met a "legitimate" aim of deterring others from such offending. Lady Carr added: "The sentences should not be seen as having a 'chilling effect' on the right to peaceful protest or to assembly more generally - deterrence and 'chilling effect' are not the same.
However, Daniel Friedman KC, representing the activists, had previously argued their jail terms were "the longest ever handed down in a case of non-violent protest in this country in modern times".
But judges said the jail terms reflected "Parliament's will" under new laws carried out under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.[3]
PM defends sentences
On 21 November 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil climate campaigners following criticism from the United Nations.
Morgan Trowland, 40, was jailed for three years and Marcus Decker, 34, for two years for causing a public nuisance after scaling the Dartford Crossing Bridge.
The UN had warned the government in a letter that the "severe" sentences could stifle protest.
Rishi Sunak said in response in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that those who break the law should feel the full force of it: "It's entirely right that selfish protestors intent on causing misery to the hard-working majority face tough sentences. It's what the public expects and it's what we've delivered."
People vs Oil
“It is a total political failure," Morgan Trowland said in a statement to the BBC from prison. "It is People vs Oil, and our government has signalled that it is on the side of oil."
"By not even responding to the concerns in this letter, the government is showing an extraordinary disregard for our civil liberties," said Jodie Beck, Policy and Campaigns Officer at the human rights charity, Liberty.
"Protest is not a gift from the state, it is a fundamental right," she added. "The government should be ensuring demonstrations are safely facilitated and that protest rights are safeguarded."[4]
