A family doctor who has been jailed for peaceful climate protests has said she will continue to break the law.
Dr Sarah Benn, 57, in August became the first GP to be suspended from the medical register by the Doctors Tribunal Service for actions related to climate activism.
But in an interview with the British Medical Journal, the Birmingham-based doctor said she would not stop being an activist.
She told the BMJ that as a doctor her mission was to promote health and save lives and that is why it was necessary to raise the alarm about global warming.
Dr Sarah Benn, 57, became the first GP to be suspended from the medical register in August by the Physicians Tribunal Service for actions relating to climate activism.
Dr Benn was convicted after protesting against the government granting new licenses to drill for oil in the North Sea.
He held a banner outside the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire, in breach of a court order granted to US oil company Valero, which specifically banned protests against the production and use of fossil fuels outside the terminal.
She spent eight days in pretrial detention and, after violating it again in September 2022, was sentenced to 32 days in prison for contempt of court. But Dr. Benn said she is ready to go back to prison.
She said: “I will certainly be out there again, doing things that may break the law (and) may end up in prison again.” That’s not the intention, but I can’t just say, “The government has this.”
‘As doctors, we are supposed to protect life and health; We’re supposed to advocate for patients.’
He added: “The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the danger of climate and ecological collapse, and I believe that my actions are a justified and proportionate effort to raise the alarm about the seriousness and urgency of the situation.”
Dr Benn’s license to practice will be reviewed again in September, at which time it could be cancelled.
Dr Benn, from Harborne, Birmingham, told the BMJ: “I don’t feel guilty. I don’t feel I have brought the profession into disrepute and I think I could explain myself very well to anyone who thought I had.
He added: ‘The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the danger of climate and ecological collapse, and I believe that my actions are a justified and proportionate effort to raise the alarm about the seriousness and urgency of the situation.
«All the scientific data is absolutely shocking: the planet is on track to warm by 2°C (above pre-industrial levels), if not more.
‘We need to do something really radical and urgent to protect our coral reefs and Arctic sea ice and stop deadly heatwaves, but that’s not happening. The inaction is simply shocking.”
Dr Benn has worked for most of her career as a GP in Birmingham city centre. She also worked as a GP trainer and undergraduate tutor.
He has worked remotely for NHS 111 during the Covid pandemic, Worcestershire COVID Management Service and in his practice.
He continued to work as a GP at Hollyoaks Medical Center in Birmingham until 2022.
Dr Benn was convicted after protesting against the government granting new licenses to drill for oil in the North Sea.
Dr Benn retired from clinical work in April 2022 and later relinquished her license to practice later that year, although she said she wanted to remain on the medical register because being a doctor was a “central part of her identity”, she told the BMJ . .
The General Medical Council has made clear, however, that the court’s decision had nothing to do with climate change but because Dr Benn broke the law.
A spokesman said: “Our eligibility to carry out investigations considers the cases referred to us where doctors have broken the law, not their motivations for doing so.”
Dr Benn, who is married and vegan, said she doesn’t fly, shops second-hand and was a “goody two shoes” at school. She became a climate activist in April 2019 after meeting with Extinction Rebellion protesters.
Dr Benn said she believes the GMC needs to rethink its rules when it comes to cases involving climate change.
“Times have changed: we face an existential threat to humanity,” he says.
‘I’m not asking to be left alone or to reverse the decision, but I think GMC needs to wake up and explore why this has happened. And how maybe things should change for the next doctor in my position who arrives before them.’
