- READ: Celebrities demand meeting with attorney general over JSO sentences
The mother of a Just Stop Oil activist jailed for disrupting thousands of hardworking people by scaling the M25 gantry has complained she ‘will not be present at her brother’s wedding’.
Cressida Gethin, a 22-year-old Cambridge University student, was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on July 18.
The stunt, pulled by Cressida and 44 other activists, disrupted London’s M25 motorway for four days in 2022.
It caused a staggering 50,000 hours of vehicle delays affecting more than 700,000 vehicles, it was claimed, and left the M25 ‘compromised’ for more than 120 hours.
One person suffering an aggressive form of cancer missed a vital appointment due to the chaos and had to wait two months to be seen as a result.
Others were late for flights while some even missed funerals due to traffic jams created by the protest.
Cressida’s mother Cathy has spoken outside court after her daughter received a sentence of four years for her part in the stunt.
‘My daughter is Cressida Gethin. At the age of 22 she was the youngest defendant and she has just been sentenced today to four years in prison. This means she will not be present at her brother’s wedding next summer,’ she said.

Cressida Gethin (pictured), a Cambridge University student, was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on July 18

Cressida Gethin’s mother Cathy (pictured) spoke outside court after her daughter received a sentence of four years for her part in JSO M55 stunt

Police watch as traffic is held back as an activist from Just Stop Oil occupies a gantry over the M25 near Godstone in Surrey

From left to right: Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster, Daniel Shaw and Roger Hallam. Hallam was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment while the remaining four defendants were each handed four years’ imprisonment
The mother added: ‘I want to bring [Cressida] to life for those of you who were not present in the courtroom.
‘Cressida grew up in the countryside, and is one of those nature loving defendants that you heard about.
‘She is an extremely talented musician. She worked hard growing up. She achieved highly. She has ambitions, dreams and hopes, like all young people. She had just finished her first year at university.’
Defending her daughter’s actions, Cathy said: ‘Cressida also grew up completely understanding right and wrong. She has always been unable to stand by when she sees injustice.
‘She has the courage of a lion and a moral compass that compels her to step forward when she sees wrong.
‘Like many of the defendants Cressida tried polite routes to protest and to persuade to affect change. But when she heard the science and saw that no one was paying attention, she felt she had no option.’

Cathy complained her daughter ‘will not be present at her brother’s wedding next summer’

Environmental Defender Michel Forst (centre) outside Southwark Crown Court with the five Just Stop Oil protesters who have been jailed
It comes as celebrities including Coldplay’s Chris Martin and TV’s Chris Packham were branded ‘champagne socialists’ after signing an open letter over the ‘injustice’ of the sentences received by the five JSO activists.
Prosecutors said the protests caused an economic hit of at least £765,000 and cost the Metropolitan Police more than £1.1million.
Read More
Celebrities demand meeting with the attorney general over JSO M25 plot sentences

Furious social media users slammed the ‘out of touch’ celebrities for signing the open letter demanding a meeting with the attorney general to reassess the sentences.
One person wrote on X: ‘Demand!! Who do they think they are! Keep to their day jobs!’
Another added: ‘Totally agree with the out of touch Chris Packham. we should just [let] people do what they want, for long they want, how often they want.
‘JSO are a criminal gang. Need to have funs removed and org shut down.’
A third said: ‘Surely. If Chris Packham feels so strongly about the JSO sentences, he would do the same as they did to draw attention to his objections? But as far as I can see, he plays it safe from the sidelines. Hypocrite.’






People took to social media to slam the celebrities who signed an open letter regarding the ‘injustice’ of the sentences received by the five JSO activists