Kingsbury climate protests GP Sarah Benn loses suspension appeal

Mrs Justice Yip said Dr Benn had been a law-abiding citizen until 2019, when she was prosecuted for “non-violent but unlawful acts” committed through Extinction Rebellion.

Dr Benn reported the prosecutions to the General Medical Council, which decided to issue advice, with a further arrest in 2021 deemed insufficient for an investigation.

However, she then took part in peaceful protests, on 26 April, 4 May and 14 September 2022, within a prohibited buffer zone at Kingsbury, in breach of an interim injunction issued on 14 April that year.

The judge said no clinical concerns were raised at her misconduct hearing.

Dr Benn had told the court the MPTS was wrong to find that participation in non-violent environmental activism amounted to misconduct and the reasoning behind the tribunal’s decision was “flawed”.

She stated the suspension was “excessive and disproportionate”.

GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said doctors had a right to express opinions on “important issues like climate change”.

There was nothing in the GMC’s guidance preventing GPs from exercising their right to lobby government and campaign, including taking part in protests, Mr Massey explained.

But he added the public had “a high degree of trust in doctors, and that trust can be put at risk when doctors fail to comply with the law”.