'Furious and frustrated': climate protester, 78, on life in prison

"I was behind bars for Christmas, new year and my birthday on 10 January," said 78-year-old Gaie Delap, who was sent back to prison in December when the right-sized tag for her wrist could not be found.

- Diane Taylor

The Just Stop Oil protester who had been released under Home Office detention curfew said she was "furious and frustrated" over her treatment and return to prison.

In her first interview since being released Delap said she is delighted to be reunited with her beloved garden but is frustrated about the tagging failure. "Who could believe they didn't have a tag to fit me when that's their job. The whole thing is extraordinarily inefficient and badly run."

Delap, a Quaker and artist, took part in a protest climbing onto a gantry above the M25 in November 2022 to highlight the government's decision to approve more than a hundred oil and gas licences.

When she took part in the climate protest she had hoped she would not be sent to prison and said she was new to climbing, apart from an occasional apple tree.

She said her return to prison despite having been deemed suitable for monitoring in the community with an electronic tag made her feel so low and isolated that she considered going on hunger strike.

She was sentenced to 20 months and after serving three and a half months at Peterborough prison was released under curfew last November.