My inside story

Louise Lancaster was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful protest after blocking a motorway. Six months into her incarceration, the mother of three adult children reveals what she has learned about life in prison

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JULY 2024

Locked in a tiny metal box in a prison transport van rattling its way to HMP Bronzefield, on the Middlesex-Surrey border, I felt at peace.

I was on trial with four other Just Stop Oil protesters over the group's non-violent direct action on the M25 motorway in 2022. The judge had told the jury to ignore evidence of the climate emergency, and we were not allowed to talk in depth about the climate breakdown when defending our actions. But we do not have the time to pretend the existential threat we face is not real. My sense of peace came from having an opportunity to speak out about the crisis during our trial.

When I arrived in the cell that night, hearing the key turn in the lock, I felt cut off from the world. I was being held on remand, there was still a week of the trial to go, and communication with my codefendants was nearly impossible. The support we were receiving from the outside, however - messages of solidarity, articles and letters - was incredibly sustaining. One day, 11 people sat outside the court holding signs that read: "Jurors have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to their conscience." They were arrested.

Each day, I was woken at 5.30am and given a few slices of toast, before being taken to a holding room with others from our group. We would then be put in a van for a two-hour journey to court, where we would again spend much of our time in concrete holding cells.

They were long days. It usually took hours to get back to prison, and often we would miss dinner. It was hard to prepare for the trial: you're not allowed to bring pens or paper with you, so I wrote my closing statement on the back of an envelope in blue crayon.

Sentencing day was tense. In his statement, the judge accused us of being fanatics who don't care about the rights of our fellow citizens.