Friday brief: Northampton climate activist jailed
Plus news of a murder in Northampton and what’s been happening in our council chambers this week
An environmental activist from Northampton has been jailed for four years for his part in a Just Stop Oil disruption of a London motorway.
Daniel Shaw, 38, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday and given the four year prison term along with Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Breu and Credida Gethin. Roger Hallam, 58, was sentenced to five years.
Daniel, who is part of Northampton’s Umbrella organisation, had been involved in organising the direct action, in which 45 people had climbed the gantries of the M25 in November 2022 and created traffic problems for four days.
Daniel Shaw had been charged with conspiracy to create a public nuisance and the group’s sentences are the longest for a non violent protest in the UK.
His friend Marly Lyman attended the court yesterday with campaign group Defend Our Juries, some of whose members had also been arrested during the trial on suspicion of contempt of court for holding placards outside the court.
He said: “Dan is a stand up guy.
“He is strong minded and he expected to be jailed. He has a good support network around him and he knows what to expect as he has been to jail before on remand.”
He said a campaign to free the group will now begin.
The trial had been chaotic as judge Christopher Hehir had told the climate activists they could not talk about their environmental reasons for their actions. His orders were disobeyed throughout the trial and there were various arrests for contempt of court.
A man was murdered on Thursday night in a Northampton Park.
Tommy Boom, 30, died in Millers Meadow - known locally as Semilong Park- after being stabbed shortly after midnight. Emergency services were called to the area around midnight and paramedics attempted to save him, but he died in the park.
Yesterday a large police cordon was put in place around the area plus a number of neighbouring streets were taped off.
Police say they have arrested four people in connection with his murder, an 18 year old man and three women aged 40, 38 and 29 remain in police custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell said yesterday the investigation was moving at pace and there would be highly visible patrols in the area.
He said:
“Tommy’s family and loved ones are devastated at his death, and our thoughts are with them all in their grief.
“On their behalf, I would ask that their privacy is respected at this incredibly difficult time.”
The man died just a mile away from Harborough Road, where 16 year old Fred Shand was killed in March last year.
Anti knife violence campaigner Quinton Green said:
“It was absolutely heartbreaking to learn that another knife related incident has led to another Northampton resident sadly losing his life. The victim was well known and this will send shockwaves across the county. My thoughts are with his friends and family at this unimaginably difficult time.
"Lot’s of focus has been placed on positioning bleed kits across Northamptonshire and that work is commendable - If one bleed kit saves one life then it becomes more than invaluable. With that, it is of absolute paramount importance to compliment that work with early intervention and preventative initiatives. There have been a number of Knife related incidents where a bleed kit hasn’t been accessible and sadly this is one of them.
“Knife Crime Victim Support offers our unwavering support to the family of the victim, who are at the beginnings of inconceivable torment. It sends shivers down my spine to know that we are here again as a community already reeling from the loss of too many here in Northampton. We must pull together.”
News in brief:
Parents whose children have been failed by the authorities were cut off during their speeches to West Northamptonshire Council.
A number of members of West Northamptonshire SEND action group had attended last night’s meeting to talk about the recent terrible special educational needs provision report, which found there were systemic failings.
Joanne Coolen, whose son has autism and has been waiting for an educational health care plan for 69 weeks (the statutory limit is 20 weeks), spoke about the trauma her son had faced due to the school system, but had her microphone shut off after three minutes. Other speakers were also shut down and two parents, who spoke in a section about the annual report, were reprimanded. One speaker who had registered to speak was not allowed.
Speaking to NN Journal after the meeting Joanne Coolen, said she found her treatment by the council ‘disrespectful’.
She said:
“Just a bit of compassion would have been nice. But tonight’s meeting showed the level of respect we get as a parent of an SEN child from West Northamptonshire Council.
“I was cut off, but part of my speech was about the years of systemic failings under Cllr Fiona Baker and there has been no accountability.”
There have been calls for Cllr Fiona Baker, who is cabinet member for children’s services to be removed from her position, due to a series of terrible reports, but so far she has refused to go. The leader Cllr Adam Brown said recently she has his confidence.
At the meeting a number of Labour councillors spoke about the way the parents had been treated, calling it ‘disgusting’ with Cllr Emma Roberts saying it was the worst council meeting she had been to.
The council chair is Jo Gilford, who throughout interrupted councillors and stopped proceedings. The leader Adam Brown said he thought some discretion on the three minute time limit should be applied by the chair in some circumstances where members of the public were talking.
Due to time constraints a vote with no discussion was carried out on the changes to the constitution, which could now see people who shout out or disrupt meetings banned. It was passed.
The county’s police, fire and crime commissioner is already butting heads with the panel that scrutinises her, over her decision to appoint a deputy.
The panel, which is mostly made up of Conservatives and chaired by a Conservative councillor, has recommended that Labour’s Danielle Stone does not appoint Marianne Kimani as her deputy. But commissioner Stone has decided to ignore the panel recommendations and has written to chairman, Cllr David Smith to say she will be pressing ahead with the appointment despite their objection.
She wrote: “This is a political appointment for which I take full responsibility and accountability rather than an executive post, and therefore does not need to be subject to open recruitment. I am grateful for your time and feedback, however I believe that Marianne has the skills and qualities that will make her an excellent political deputy, supporting me in engaging with communities and holding the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Constable to account.”
Marianne Kimani, who has a criminology degree but no direct experience of police management, will be paid £55,000 for the role. Commissioner Stone, who was elected in May, did not declare during her campaigning that she would be appointing a deputy.
In a heated meeting last week, North Northamptonshire councillor Matt Binley, who is not on the panel, accused the new commissioner of ‘cronyism’ and called for her to stand down. He also questioned where the money to pay the deputy was coming from.
As reported by the local democracy reporting service, commissioner Stone said the money was coming ‘from her budget’.
She said:
“Northamptonshire is very big and has lots and lots of people, lots of diverse communities and I can’t do that on my own.
“The only way of doing that is being up close and personal, we cannot do that from a central office. I want to have a deputy who is working alongside me to co-produce and co-support.”
The role of the panel came to prominence last year due to the scandal by the former commissioner Stephen Mold, over his appointment of a close friend Nicc Marzec to the chief fire officer job. He stood down after NN Journal exposed his misogynistic comments about Marzec’s replacement Nikky Watson.
In contrast to their treatment of political rival Commissioner Stone, the panel were largely uncritical of Stephen Mold and were very light in their sanctions imposed upon him.
Plans to breathe new life into an old factory site in a Northamptonshire village by building new homes and apartments have been given the go-ahead by the council.
Fernbrook Builders Ltd are seeking to build on the recently-demolished workshops and former factory located at the junction of Denford Road and Spencer Street in Ringstead. Their vision also includes converting a standalone office building next to the site into apartments.
The development will bring forward nine new homes, including six two to three-bedroom houses and three flats. The former workshop building has already been demolished and will be replaced by two adjacent homes on Spencer Street.
A further terrace of four units has been approved fronting Denford Road. Parking will be allocated to individual properties with bay parking to the rear of the buildings and private drives for some properties.
Six members of the public objected, Most concerns were around overdevelopment, lack of amenities in Ringstead for new residents, parking and the impact on heritage.
Contributions towards education and libraries have been requested by the authority,
The council approved the proposals on Wednesday subject to conditions.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
A large 77 hectare solar farm can now be built on open countryside after approval from West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) this week.
The renewable energy development will cover six empty fields west of Welford, on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border. After construction, the solar panels will generate up to 49.9MW of energy, which would power approximately 14,500 homes according to the developer.
The applicant, Welford Solar Farms Limited, said the construction period for the development would create 50 jobs locally. After the project is complete it would reportedly save up to 11,500 tonnes of carbon each year over its 40 year lifespan.
The closest property, Sybole Farm, will be surrounded by the solar farm on three sides.
A WNC planning officer said that there will be a maximum of 50 HGV movements in and out of the site every day during construction, but it will rapidly decline to around one a month for maintenance work after it has been fully built.
He added that the solar farm would ultimately be “a silent neighbour” once complete and that it should be brought into consideration that the site is currently an arable field which would likely generate noise from agricultural heavy machinery.
Director of Welford Solar Farms Limited, Tim Hancock, told the meeting: “We build, own and operate our projects over the long term in partnerships with landowners and our host community.
“Welford solar farm is ideally located by power directly to Daventry International Freight Terminal, Motorway service areas and proposed HGV charging installations. We will help to contribute to meeting the UK’s need to reach net zero and help with energy security and affordability.
“We do however recognise that a proposal for a large project in a rural area results in some significant change locally. We can only locate solar farms where a suitable land area is available and where there is sufficient grid capacity.”
Welford Parish Council raised no objections to the plans but set out a number of requests including carrying out ongoing maintenance on the site and regularly monitoring access routes that their heavy goods vehicles use.
WNC unanimously approved the solar farm subject to conditions, including a construction management plan which will limit the harm and noise caused to neighbouring areas whilst the panels are being set up.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
Four years in prison for peaceful protest is an outrage!
The United Nations sent Michel Forst, their Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, to witness Daniel’s trial because a complaint had been lodged with the UN about Daniel Shaw's draconian treatment by the authorities in this country. M. Forst wrote to the last government in March this year to raise his concerns, but it failed to respond to the Special Rapporteur's communication in a substantive way. Michel Forst attended Daniel’s trial to see how it was conducted. It was a farce.
The Special Rapporteur issued a press release on 24/6/24: "I remind the United Kingdom that, should I fail to see effective, immediate steps by the government of the United Kingdom to halt its alleged persecution, penalization or harassment of Mr. Shaw, the powers granted to me under my mandate empower me to refer the alleged violation of article 3 (8) to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, as a reflection of its seriousness and/or systemic nature."
Professor McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London, said: “The trial and verdict were a farce. They mark a low point in British justice and they were an assault on free speech." while Sir David King, who was previously the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor called it "disgraceful".
As the climate and ecological crises accelerate we can expect increasing levels of chaos and repression.
The hypocracy of the Tories over the Police Commissioner appointing her mate as deputy is astounding. But nonetheless it is still nepotism and cannot be supported.
A £55K publicly funded post should be advertised and subject to at least a minimum level of competition to ensure a range of candidates are considered and the appointment made on ability, not because you are someone's mate.