WHO IS CAUSING THE MOST HARM, a Doctor or Exxon Mobil?
The public gallery in Chelmsford Crown Court on 7th January 2025 were in shock as Dr Pat Hart, a GP from Bristol, was given a 12 months prison sentence by Judge Mills. Pat was found guilty of criminal damage in a trial in October 2022 after disabling some petrol pumps at the Thurrock Services on the M25 on the 24th August 2022. He had explained in the trial that the action was part of Just Stop Oils campaign calling on the government to stop issuing new fossil fuel licences, which it has since done. He further explained that Esso’s parent company, ExxonMobil, had for decades been deliberately denying and covering up the knowledge that it had that its activities were causing climate change which would be catastrophic for life on earth.
This sentence would have an impact beyond the imprisonment as it would trigger an automatic referral to the Medical Practice Tribunal Service to determine whether he would have his licence to practice as a doctor suspended or even be struck off, after practicing for over 20 years
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Pat has explained how it was his duty of care as a doctor, to protect life, that motivated him to take this action.
“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.”