Dr Sarah Benn said that as a doctor, she had a moral duty to take action to protect life and health
A doctor, arrested and jailed for her involvement in Just Stop Oil protests, has had her medical licence suspended for five months.
Dr Sarah Benn, formerly a GP in Birmingham, was arrested after taking part in peaceful demonstrations at the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire.
Dr Benn, who had already given up practising in August 2022, said that as a doctor, she had a moral duty to take action to protect life and health.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) imposed the suspension on Tuesday after ruling last week that Dr Benn’s fitness to practise was impaired.
Dr Sarah Benn said she did not take the protests and disruptions she had participated in lightly
A tribunal has found a doctor’s fitness to practise to be impaired due to misconduct after she was involved in a number of Just Stop Oil protests.
Dr Sarah Benn, a GP in Birmingham until 2022, was arrested after taking part in demonstrations at the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire.
The General Medical Council (GMC) said the proceedings were not brought as a reaction to her participation in protests, but the fact that her actions broke the law and resulted in her imprisonment.
The tribunal said it must now consider what sanction, if any, to impose on the doctor’s registration.
Dr Benn said as a doctor, she had a moral duty to take action to protect life and health and that the climate emergency was a health emergency which was “happening now”.
Dr Sarah Brown is fighting to keep her medical practice licence after she was jailed for 31 days. Picture: Just Stop Oil/Alamy
A GP who was jailed for taking part in a Just Stop Oil protest has defended her actions by claiming they were part of a doctor’s ‘fundamental duty is to protect health and life’.
Dr Sarah Brown is now fighting to keep her medical practice licence after she was jailed for 31 days for contempt of court and breaching an injunction to not demonstrate outside Kingsbury oil terminal, Warwickshire, in 2022.
The doctor from Birmingham could now be struck off from the medical register following a tribunal today.
Dr Brown defended her actions in a statement published by Just Stop Oil: “As a doctor, my fundamental duty is to protect health and life.
“This includes proactive efforts to prevent disease and death. The climate crisis is the most significant existential threat to global health we have ever faced.”
🚨 BREAKING: Former GP Faces Losing Medical Licence for Taking Action to Protect Patients' Lives
🩺 This week, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service is reviewing the case of Dr Sarah Benn, 57, who has been arrested multiple times taking action to stop oil.
Acorn activists outside the entrance of aerospace and defence manufacturer Meggitt in Birmingham
THREE British arms firms supplying Israel with weapons were blockaded today when activists, local community members and tenants’ union Acorn went into action in defence of Gaza.
Acorn is active in towns and cities across Britain fighting on issues such as tenants’ rights, public transport and the cost-of-profits crisis.
Activists targeted weapons manufacturers in Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds today.
In Birmingham, the entrances to aerospace and defence manufacturer Meggitt were blocked; in Bristol, protesters turned away workers at defence and security manufacturer Leonardo; and in Leeds, the offices of BAE System were blockaded.
All three firms manufacture or provide components and systems for military aircraft being used in the bombardment of Gaza.
Acorn chairwoman Chelsea Phillips said: “Acorn will not stand by while entire communities are obliterated while ordinary people just like us are murdered in their tens of thousands by the Israeli government with the support of our government and using horrific weapons of war built by British companies.
