FOUR Insulate Britain activists were acquitted at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday for protesting on the M25. 

Activists demanding that the government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes took part in a roadblock near Heathrow in September 2021. 

Emily Brocklebank, Ruth Cook, Ana Heyatawin and Iain Webb were then put on trial for causing a “public nuisance.”

After a six-day trial, the jury took just an hour to return a unanimous verdict of not guilty. 

Unlike similar trials over non-violent civil resistance, the judge allowed defendants to speak about the climate crisis and their motivations behind taking action in their closing statements.

In his closing speech, Mr Webb compared the government’s response to a fire brigade attending a house fire and doing nothing. 

He said:“Throughout history people have taken action knowing that the odds were stacked against them but they did anyway because it was the right thing to do … 2023 was the hottest recorded year in our lives and sadly it will be the coldest year we will know going forward as the crisis will only get worse.”

Following the verdict, Ms Cook said: “At 72 years old, I was a law-abiding citizen until September 2021. 

“Insulate Britain — its demands, the people I met and the trust we shared in taking action together — showed me that non-violent civil resistance was the only way to ensure our voices were heard.”

Insulate Britain says that the Crown Prosecution Service has summoned 56 activists from the group to answer charges of public nuisance across some 45 jury trials.

Trials are planned up until June next year.