Today, @ChrisGPackham is testifying at Isleworth Crown Court in support of Cressie, who is currently on trial for climbing on a gantry over the M25. Before entering court today, Chris Packham spoke to the media: “Because of Cressie, and other Just Stop Oil protesters, I sat sweating on the M25. Was I inconvenienced? Well, that’s a relative value. I was late to work, but my house was not burning down. I wasn’t drowning in a flood, displaced by famine, or separated from my family as a climate refugee. I was just sat on the M25, a position that I and millions of others find themselves in every single day of the year. Not because of protesters, but because our traffic system is broken, overloaded or stalled due to a breakdown or tragic accident.” “So I used my ‘inconvenience’ for good… I imagined the motives of the protesters, why they were taking such a physical risk and further risking imprisonment. I imagined how scared they must have been hanging onto a gantry. I also thought about their message and how in a record breaking heat wave – with our government’s Net Zero policy not fit for purpose – they should be commended for sounding a vital alarm. I reconciled that my ‘inconvenience’ was entirely justified.” “I am attending court to support Cressie Gethin because I don’t think she is getting a fair trial. I think, along with the UN, that the UK’s protest laws and sentencing of protesters are unjust, draconian, and in conflict with our basic human rights. I think we are witnesses to disproportionae vindictive witch hunts hell-bent on punishing some of the bravest individuals in society just because they are forced to struggle to tell the truth. These trials are shameful, demeaning, and undemocratic. I set a challenge to the judge, the prosecution, and their witnesses… go home and tell someone you know: a son, daughter, nephew or niece who is under 25 what you have done today and then ask them if they are proud of you’”.