GP given (suspended) prison sentence for damaging petrol pumps states he “will not give up on caring”
Bristol based GP, Dr Patrick Hart, was sentenced today to (insert sentence) after being found guilty of criminal damage by a crown court.
In August 2022 along with a group from the campaign ‘Just Stop Oil’ Dr Hart used a hammer and chisel to crack the display of 16 petrol pumps at the Esso petrol station in Thurrock(1), and then gave himself up for arrest. Esso is a subsidiary of the Oil giant Exxon mobil which infamously concealed the findings of its climate scientists, and subsequently ploughed millions into a disinformation campaign which initially seeded doubt and later confusion around the emerging climate science (2).
Dr Hart pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge of Criminal Damage as while he did not dispute the bare facts of the prosecution’s case, in his own words to plead guilty “…would have been dishonest. I do not feel guilty for what I did. I believed then, and I believe now that it was the right thing to do. It was the carefully considered action of a responsible citizen. My only defence, however, is a moral one, not a legal one. I did what I did as an act of conscience” (3).
The Bristol based GP has felt compelled to advocate for urgent and appropriate action to prevent the worst of the climate health emergency since he experienced the suffering of his patients while working in drought-torn South Africa as a junior doctor. In his defence he spoke of his understanding of the impacts of our environment on health, and of public health interventions as a core necessity to promoting good health. He also spoke about the responsibility of doctors to look beyond their day to day jobs in order to promote the health of their patients.
Dr Hart has been a tireless climate campaigner who has already faced significant judicial, emotional, financial and social burdens as a result of his work. This has included three acquittals and one conviction following previous acts of climate related civil disobedience (4, 5, 6), as well as extensive work as a JSO spokesperson (7).
The climate and ecological emergency has long been recognised as the greatest threat to human health through both its direct effects such as the impact of heat on cardiovascular disease, and through its many indirect impacts such as malnutrition and displacement (8). Dr Hart highlighted the failure of the legal system to adapt to this reality and its continued insistence on labelling the scientifically recognised consensus as “philosophical or political beliefs” (9).
Following changes to the legal landscape since his arrest, Dr Hart was unable to rely on any legal defences in court (9). However, despite objections from the prosecution the presiding judge did allow him a short time to outline his motivations for taking part in the action. Addressing the jury he explained the role of Exxon mobil in both facilitating the climate and health emergency and in preventing earlier appropriate action in mitigation. He also spoke of the moral justification for his actions saying:
‘I disrupted people as an act of care. I damaged the petrol pump screens as an act of care. Because in times of great peril, a caring person has to stand up for what is right. My actions have already cost me greatly. I have been penalised at work and stand to be suspended or lose my licence to practise as a doctor. But I regret nothing. Because to not do it, would have been to give up on caring, and that would be worse. In the face of the permanent collapse of our climate, our economy, our society and life on Earth, the only thing that keeps me going is our continued capacity to as people to care, regardless of what happens. Yes, I fear prison, but I am ready to go if I must (3).’
Dr Hart had previously faced civil charges and has been fined for this same action as the Thurrock Exxo petrol station is subject to a private injunction. In addition he will now also face a tribunal after being referred for disciplinary hearing by his professional regulator, the General Medical Council, who this year have already suspended two doctors from the medical register following their conviction for non-violent climate protest (10, 11) . As such he stands to be penalised three times for this single act of conscience.
Before sentencing Dr Part said:
“Some years ago I decided to take action, for the sake of myself, my family and my patients, to resist the oil executives and the governments who enable them. These people are demonstrating by their actions that they have no regard for human life. They will burn the planet and see us all die sooner than risk their share price. So I stood up to them, in the full knowledge that it could result in my imprisonment. I did not expect to succeed, I did it simply because it was the right thing to do. Now as the world careers past the so called safety limit of 1.5 degrees of warming, we find ourselves in a fight for survival where every tenth of a degree counts. Our only chance is to stop burning fossil fuels, and our only chance to achieve this is to stand up to the fossil fuel companies and the governments who enable them. We do this, or we die.”
“Right now, the greatest health threat to all of us is the unfolding climate catastrophe. It is the greatest health threat we have ever faced. All healthcare workers have a responsibility to protect the health of their patients. If we do not stand up to the oil and gas executives who are wreaking havoc on our climate and the politicians who enable them, if we do not end the burning of fossil fuels, then we will have failed as a profession and the health systems that we have developed over centuries will collapse. I will continue to fight against the death sentence of fossil fuels for as long as I have strength in me. I have no greater duty as a doctor at this moment in history.”
Media Folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13QkV6PFELj5HFq3mVr0_F5NbQKw0lpwq?usp=drive_link
Notes for editors:
- The good doctor – https://juststopoil.org/2022/08/25/the-good-doctor/
- Big oil vs the world – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cgql8f
- Can property damage ever be an act of care – https://healthforxr.com/can-property-damage-ever-be-an-act-of-care-dr-patrick-hart-demonstrates-courage-and-compassion-facing-down-exxon-mobil/
- Doctors protest outside JP Morgan to demand they end fossil fuel investments –https://healthforxr.com/doctors-protest-outside-jp-morgan-offices-to-demand-they-end-fossil-fuel-investments/
- Doctors for Xr crack glass at JP Morgan as UK declares heatwave “National Emergency” – https://healthforxr.com/doctors-for-xr-crack-glass-at-jp-morgan-as-uk-declares-heatwave-national-emergency/
- Just stop oil rugby disruptor’s found not guilty by crown court jury – https://juststopoil.org/?s=twickenham
- ‘Dr Patrick Hart’ on you tube – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dr+Patrick+Hart
- The Lancet countdown – tracking progress on health and climate change – https://lancetcountdown.org/
- Court ruling erodes climate activists ability to defend themselves – as the planet heats up – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/19/ruling-erodes-climate-activists-right-protest-england-wales#:~:text=And%20on%20Monday%20three%20appeal,can%20amount%20to%20lawful%20excuse.
- Retired UK GP suspended for 5 months after climate protest – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/23/retired-uk-gp-suspended-for-five-months-over-climate-activism
- “It’s sometimes right to break the law”: doctor suspended for Insulate Britain protest speaks out – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/17/doctor-struck-off-insulate-britain-protests-speaks-out
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