This is the moment a Bristol GP put 16 petrol pumps at a motorway service station out of action by smashing the display screens and then spraying paint on them. The video of the protest has been released by environmental campaign group Just Stop Oil after Dr Patrick Hart was jailed for 12 months for his actions.
Dr Hart, 38, was given the one-year custodial prison sentence earlier this week by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court, after he was found guilty of damaging the pumps at the motorway services at Thurrock, on the M25 in Essex back in 2022. Patients of the Bedminster GP have posted messages of support.
He pleaded ‘not guilty’ even though he admitted he caused the criminal damage, but said he did so ‘as an act of care’ to other people to raise awareness of the climate emergency and global warming.
The GP worked at the Bridge View Medical group of GP surgeries in Bedminster, Knowle and Southville, in South Bristol, and patients have taken to community social media to support him, since news of his imprisonment broke in Bristol.
One said: “He’s a bloody lovely GP and we only have to glance at the news to see justification for his actions,” while another said he would be a ‘big loss’ to the community in Bedminster.
“Patrick is my GP and he is absolutely excellent,” they said, adding that he was a ‘wonderful warm person, who really listens to his patients’. “He will be a big loss to the community,” they said.
He was convicted by a jury back in October last year, and sentenced this week by a judge. After his conviction, the General Medical Council, the professional body which holds every doctors’ licence to practice, referred Dr Hart to an independent tribunal and he could be struck off, having been convicted and imprisoned.
But patients in Bedminster said they hoped he wouldn’t be. “Such a lovely doctor the best one at Bridge View ,so caring, he will so be missed,” said one patient. “I hope they allow him to return after his sentence.” Another added: “I hope they suspend his sentence and do not strike him off the register.”
The 38-year-old from Knowle has been involved in some of the UK’s most high profile direct action protests with Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil over the past few years. In May 2023, he invaded the pitch during the Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham and threw orange-coloured cornflour around, as part of a wave of Just Stop Oil protests at major sporting events at the time. He was later found not guilty of causing criminal damage to the pitch at Twickenham..
Others in BS3 said they disagreed with his method of protest. “That is not the way of protesting,” said one local resident. “I’m sure he is a good man, but law is law. Surely there are other ways to boycott the oil industry,” they added.