Just Stop Oil protesters accused of having ‘blood on their hands’ after death of two women

Charlie Herbert

The Just Stop Oil protest caused major disruption at Dartford Crossing

Two Just Stop Oil protesters who spent more than a day and a half at the top of the Dartford Crossing have been accused of having blood on their hands following the deaths of two women.

A stranded motorist and a woman who stopped to help them were killed on the hard shoulder of the M20 near Swanley, when a car drove into them.

The ambulance team took 40 minutes to reach the scene due to tailbacks on the motorway that many were using to avoid the disruption caused by the Just Stop Oil Dartford Crossing protest.

The incident happened at 8:20 am on Monday, 17 October, when a BMW went across three lanes and hit the women on the hard shoulder; one of whom was a GP and was not named.

The other woman was a mum-of-three, called Lisa Webster

Mark Heap, 54, who pulled over to help the women and was also injured, spoke to the Sun from his hospital bed.

“They may not have intended to hurt anyone, but they’ve got blood on their hands now.

“Without the protest the emergency services might have been able to get there in time to save the women,” Mark said of the protesters.

🚨 BREAKING: MORGAN AND MARCUS DESCEND FROM DARTFORD CROSSING BRIDGE 🚨

🍒 After a successful 37 hour occupation, Morgan and Marcus descended from Queen Elizabeth II Bridge on a giant cherrypicker, having majorly disrupted fuel deliveries from Essex to the South East of England. pic.twitter.com/ailp1zKaGw

— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) October 18, 2022

Mick Neville, who used to work for the Met, echoed these sentiments, saying: “They may not have directly caused the M20 accident. But had their irresponsible demo not taken place, the women and van driver would probably not have been there.”

On Wednesday, the two protestors were removed from the bridge after 37 hours at the top of the 84-metre tall masts.

According to a tweet sent out by the campaign group, the efforts of the pair “majorly disrupted fuel deliveries from Essex to the South East of England”.

At one point, locals took to shooting fireworks at the pair in the middle of the night.

Footage of the shocking incident was shared online and shows fireworks being thrown in the protesters’ direction, seemingly in a violent bid to encourage the protesters away from the bridge.

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