Activists convicted of causing a public nuisance said the guilty verdict "galvanises" their courage "to stand up against the state that is continuing to fail its citizens". 

Four Insulate Britain protesters were yesterday found guilty of causing a public nuisance after blocking the M25.

Venetia Carter, Alexander Rodger, Catherine Eastburn and Cameron Ford were all convicted at Hove Crown Court.

Cameron Ford said: “In a week where we’re seeing record-breaking extreme heat across Asia and the Law Society has announced that law firms can now refuse to act for climate-destroying companies, we continue our truth-telling in the courts.

“Naturally we are saddened by today’s verdict but this galvanises our courage to stand up against the state that is continuing to fail its citizens. 

“All the rights we take for granted today were hard won. People like us kept chiselling away in civil resistance until things changed. Many trials were lost but eventually they won. 
“That is what we are doing and that is what we will continue to do and we know in time the judicial system will catch up. In the same way it is now illegal to keep women from the ballot box or to own a slave. 

“We are only some way along the road of tackling the climate crisis. As always the judicial system is slow to evolve and the time it has left is narrow. We stand by our convictions and endeavour to insulate Britain.”

The jury took less than half an hour to reach four unanimous verdicts.

Activist Carter, 58, a tutor from Brighton, defended her actions when she, alongside 11 other protesters, blocked the Swanley Interchange of the M25 in Kent on September 13, 2021.

Carter held back tears as she concluded her statement.

“Those of us who sat in the road that day are ordinary people,” Carter told the jury.

“We are scared of what lies in store for us and our children if things carry on as they are.”

Carter, Eastburn and Ford defended themselves in the trial, which began on Monday.

Alexander Roger, 33, a teacher from Brighton was represented by Raj Chada.

They will be sentenced later.