Judicial earthquake as protesters walk free just days after fracking begins in UK

The Court of Appeal resounded to singing and applause from anti-fracking campaigners today as three of their fellow activists walked free from prison. The judges ruled that the custodial sentences imposed on the three men had been “manifestly excessive” and instead they should have been made to do community service.

The trio had climbed on to lorries outside the energy firm Cuadrilla’s gas extraction site in Lancashire at a protest in July. They were jailed last month for committing a public nuisance after a trial at Preston Crown Court. We speak to Simon Roscoe Blevins, one of the freed protesters.