Chertsey protest: Climate activist jailed for flouting injunction

Breen dug a hole and occupied it in an attempt to disrupt the build of an aviation fuel pipeline

A climate activist who occupied a tunnel to disrupt the building of a fuel pipeline has been jailed for flouting a High Court injunction.

Scott Breen, 48, dug a pit next to the M25 at Chertsey in Surrey as part of a protest against Esso's Southampton to London Pipeline project.

The 48-year-old, nicknamed "Digger", admitted breaching the court order.

He was jailed for 112 days by a High Court judge following a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday.

Esso Petroleum Company Limited, owned by ExxonMobil, was granted an interim injunction against Breen and "persons unknown" at a hearing last month.

'Mischief'

It included a requirement that Breen leave his pit within 72 hours of the order being served on him.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Ritchie said Breen had been "arrogant, dismissive" and "sought to cause chaos" by failing to engage with the injunction.

"The defendant's approach to the court order was to flout it continuously," the judge said.

Timothy Morshead QC, representing Esso, told the judge that "nothing less than an immediate custodial sentence will meet the mischief in this case".

Breen's barrister, Annabel Timan, said her client apologised, "fully accepts that he was in breach" and would "undertake not to engage in any further incursions on the land".

Mr Justice Ritchie said: "There is nothing wrong with protesting, and it's the right of citizens of England and Wales to do so, but they must do so within the law."

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