Former University of Manchester student jailed for Just Stop Oil activity

University of Manchester alum Phoebe Plummer faces six months in prison following their arrest at a slow march for Just Stop Oil in London. Their hearing took place on November 16.

The 22-year-old, who first garnered media attention last year with their defacement of a van Gogh painting using soup, is to be remanded in prison until May 16, 2024.

They will put forward their plea at Southwark Crown Court on November 30.

Plummer was remanded under Public Order Act 2023, section 7 by Judge McDonell at Highbury Magistrates court. In reply to the Judge’s inquiry into future intent, Plumber stated “I will continue to march while they continue to licence new oil, coal, and gas. How many more children have to die before you listen?”

In response to the imprisonment, a Just Stop Oil X post claimed Plummer, who studied maths and computer science for one year at the University of Manchester, to be one of six members of the protest group arrested in the 14 days prior.

Plummer criticised the government’s “draconian” Public Order Acts, telling Dazed that protesters “won’t be intimidated by prison sentences when there is so much more at stake.”

This news comes one month after the University’s Alan Gilbert Learning Commons was vandalised with spray paint by Just Stop Oil protester Ruby Hamill, who was arrested at the scene.

Just Stop Oil’s X (formerly Twitter) page claims Plummer broke the conditions of their bail by choosing to continue protesting, and will remain in prison until their next court date in December.

Hamill’s demonstration was one in a string of attacks on various university buildings across the UK.

In the run up to a large demonstration in London, Just Stop Oil posters have been spotted around the University of Manchester’s campus. The posters invite students to a meeting located at University Place in order to  “find out why […] hundreds of students are taking action in London.”