Anti-fracking campaigners appealing their prison sentences supported by hundreds of protesters outside court

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of the appeal against sentences handed to three anti-fracking campaigners.

Within their ranks were family members of the activists, environmental campaigners and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, who said they had come to “uphold the right of peaceful protest”.

Friends of the Earth and human rights organisation Liberty made submissions to the Court of Appeal on the sentences, arguing they were “disproportionate”.

In September, Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, Richard Roberts, 36, and Rich Loizou, 31, were handed the longest prison sentences for environmental protest since 1932.

The three men were convicted of causing a public nuisance following a protest in which they climbed onto lorries bringing drilling equipment to the Preston New Road fracking site in Lancashire last year.

They were sentenced to up to 16 months in prison, while a fourth protester Julian Brock, 47, was given a 12-month prison term, suspended for 18 months.

Since the verdict, groups from scientists to trade unions have called the sentences “absurdly harsh” and a threat to people’s ability to peacefully protest for the environment.

“The right to protest is fundamental to democracy, and civil disobedience plays a critical role in voicing the conscience of a community when the law falls short of justice,” said Emma Norton, head of legal casework at Liberty ahead of the hearing.

“When people break the law, they rightly expect to face fair consequences, but the disproportionate punishment of peaceful protesters betrays our values as an open society where we can stand up to power, and risks deterring people from exercising their right to dissent.”

At the initial sentencing, Judge Robert Latham said he could not suspend the jail terms given to the protesters because there was a risk of them reoffending.

“Each of them remains motivated by unswerving confidence that they are right. Even at their trial they felt justified by their actions,” he told Preston Crown Court.

The appeal will be heard by Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, as well as two other leading judges.

Katie de Kauwe, a lawyer at Friends of the Earth, said: “We need people in the world who will stand up for what is right.

“An individual’s moral convictions on climate change or environmental protection shouldn’t be used as a factor to justify harsh sentencing.

“We believe that the fracking protesters’ passion for the environment was unlawfully used against them, resulting in incorrect and draconian sentences.”

Loizou’s mother Sharron Loizou said she thought the courts “wanted to make an example of them to stop other demonstrators”, adding ”I think it’s backfired massively”.

“I think it’s made ordinary people think this is the wrong, we shouldn’t be allowing it,” she said.

Outside the court, Ms Lucas described the decision by the government to go ahead with fracking as “an absolute trampling over democratic rights”.

“The people of Lancashire made loud and clear that they do not want fracking on their doorstep,” she said.

Fracking began in the UK for the first time in seven years on Monday, with energy firm Cuadrilla confirming that it had restarted its operations at the Preston New Road site.

Activists from campaign group Reclaim the Power attempted to block the entrance to the site with a van, but Cuadrilla said it already had the equipment in place to begin the process.

Only 18 per cent of the UK population supports fracking, according to government figures. However, the government has consistently argued that it is committed to “safe and sustainable exploration and development of our onshore shale gas”.

Additional reporting by agencies.