ENVIRONMENTAL protester Gaie Delap was released from prison on January 31 after an additional 42 days behind bars.
Gaie, 78, a retired teacher from Montpelier, will see out the rest of her sentence on home detention.
She had served three months of a 20-month jail term imposed after she climbed over gantries during a protest that halted traffic on the M25 in 2022. She had been allowed home but was recalled to Eastwood Park prison in South Gloucestershire on December 20 because a suitable electronic curfew band for her wrist could not be found. She could not have an ankle tag because of deep vein thrombosis.
Her brother Mick Delap told Bristol 24/7 that the 15cm wrist strap with which Gaie has now been fitted is the same size at the one that Serco, the company that manages electronic curfews for the Ministry of Justice, had said was too small to be secure.
Gaie’s supporters were also outraged that her sentence was extended by 20 days for being ‘unlawfully at large’ during the time she was at home awaiting the original tag fitting.
Her release came after campaigners wrote an open letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, asking her to revoke Gaie’s recall to prison and launch an inquiry into the failures that led to her recall.
During Gaie’s second period in prison, which included Christmas and her birthday, supporters including Bristol West Green MP Carla Denyer and environmentalist Chris Packham made public appeals for her to be allowed home. Campaigners, including members of the Climate Choir and Redland Quaker Meeting House, which Gaie attends, held a vigil outside the jail. A crowdfunder by the Good Law Project raised more than £30,000 towards her legal fees.
Ms Denyer said she was pleased and relieved that Gaie was now home but said she remained concerned at the threats faced by peaceful climate protesters.