A 77-year-old environmental activist will spend Christmas in prison despite having been released on an electronic tag, because the authorities cannot find an electronic device small enough to fit her wrists.
Gaie Delap, a retired teacher and a Quaker from Bristol, was jailed in August, along with four co-defendants, for her part in a campaign of disruptive Just Stop Oil protests on the M25 in November 2022.
She was released in November to serve the rest of her sentence under a home detention curfew. But the private company contracted to fit the tag to Delap was unable to attach one to her ankle because of a health condition and did not have a tag available small enough to fit wrists her size.
With no device monitoring her, an arrest warrant was issued two weeks ago. Delap has been at home with her suitcase packed since then, waiting for police to knock on her door. On Friday evening, police arrived and took her to Eastwood Park prison in Gloucestershire.
Delap’s supporters fear that not only will she now have to spend Christmas in prison, but may also have to serve the remainder of her sentence behind bars.
Delap, who has various health problems, could not wear an ankle tag because she was at risk of deep-vein thrombosis. The same issue with tagging arose when she was on bail and a “doorstep curfew” was agreed from 7pm to 7am, with random checks incorporated. Such an alternative was not offered this time.
A statement from Delap’s brother Mick Delap and a former probation officer and friend, Mike Campbell, said: “We are outraged by Gaie’s recall to prison. We know this is cruel, and totally unnecessary. We know there are alternatives to the tag. We know that if she had been a man, a tag would have been available.
“Gaie is absolutely no threat to the community. This recall to prison is a ridiculous waste of resources and money. We want common sense to prevail and ask for her rerelease.”
At the time of Delap’s sentence, her MP, Carla Denyer, said she had deep concern over the “disproportionate sentence” given to Delap, whose actions were “entirely peaceful and non-violent and designed to draw attention to the threat posed by the climate emergency”.
Denyer previously said: “My jaw hit the floor when I heard about this case. It’s beyond absurd. I have gone straight to the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, about this case. This is a disproportionate crackdown on climate protesters. It’s clear that Gaie poses no threat to her fellow citizens.”
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In a response to her letter dated 17 December 2024, Timpson wrote that ministers and officials could not interfere with sentences imposed by independent courts, and as no strap small enough to fit her wrist has been found, Delap would be recalled “in accordance with the law … until a suitable alternative can be found”.
A spokesperson for HM Prison and Probation Service said: “We have a duty to enforce sentences passed down by the independent judiciary. The law states anyone released under home detention curfew must be tagged and recalled if no alternative solution is available.”
Delap was among several dozen Just Stop Oil supporters who, during a four-day campaign, climbed gantries over the M25, which encircles London, forcing police to stop traffic and leaving an estimated 709,000 drivers stuck in tailbacks.
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