Former island resident jailed for Insulate Britain protests
A PROTESTER with ties to Guernsey has been sentenced to four months in prison for taking part in a human blockade on the M25 as part of the Insulate Britain protests, which campaigns for all homes in the UK to be installed with low energy insulation by 2030.
Emma Smart, 44, a biologist who has worked in wildlife conservation for more than 20 years, was among nine protesters to be sentenced for defying a road block ban which has been placed on various major roads in and around London, after two months of protests caused significant delays and uproar from motorists.
Hailing from Weymouth, she lived in Guernsey with her partner, now husband, in the early 2010s.
In a statement read in court, Mrs Smart said: ‘I am proud of my actions and I stand by what I did.
‘I am doing everything I can to protect the most vulnerable in society – globally and right here in this country.’
Her family have confirmed that she has started a hunger strike while she awaits her arrival at HMP Bronzefield.
‘We are all vulnerable in a climate crisis – you me, everyone in this courtroom. No-one is immune, no-one is safe. When I see injustice I cannot stand by and watch harm to life,’ said Mrs Smart.
A report from 2020 revealed that 9,700 deaths in the UK are attributed each year to living in a cold house.
‘Our government is betraying us, betraying our vulnerable people and betraying our children’s future,' she said on Facebook before the sentencing. 'I believe that my intentions are morally right, even if my actions are deemed legally wrong.’
Mrs Smart and her husband Andrew Smith made news in Guernsey back in 2012 for embarking on a trip around the world over 800 days in an 18-year old Toyota.
That journey has since been picked up by at least one national newspaper, which has called her a hypocrite.
But at the time the couple said they had calculated their CO2 emissions to be less than if living in Guernsey.
In a statement to UK media, Mr Smith said: ‘I completely stand with them on what they’ve done and how they’ve acted.
'I would obviously rather the judge side with them but they did break the law and then they were willing to face the consequences of breaking the law.’
