Insulate Britain protesters have been praised by a judge who fined them for a demonstration that blocked part of the M25 last year.

The group pleaded guilty to wilful obstruction of free passage after they disrupted the journeys of an estimated 18,000 drivers by sitting across Junction 3 on the M25 on 29 September.

Ian Bates, 63, Karen Matthews, 60, and Biff Whipster, 54, were told by District Judge Stephen Leake at Crawley Magistrates’ Court that they had “inspired” him after they spoke about their climate concerns while representing themselves in court.

The judge said: “I have heard your voices.

“They have inspired me and personally I intend to do what I can to reduce my own impact on the planet, so to that extent your voices are certainly heard.

“These are difficult cases for us judges because we have to apply the law and that is what we have sworn our judicial oaths to do.”

‘I’m living in an insane world’

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The protesters had claimed they resorted to “non-violent protest” after exhausting all other means of highlighting their cause.

Several cried and held their faces in their hands while they listened to fellow activists talk about the “desperate” situation facing the planet.

Bates said: “I’m living in an insane world.

“I walk around and people are completely and utterly unaware of it, immune to it… We carry on like we’re just doing our jobs.

“We’re not doing our jobs, we’re killing everybody.”

He added: “The very last thing I have left is to exercise my right to peacefully protest and for that protest to bring to the attention of the British public the desperate situation we are in.”

Read more: Insulate Britain admits road-blocking protests ‘failed’ but warns new tactics will be ‘more ambitious’

The judge said the protesters had “no doubt” been acting in a way they believed was “morally right” but that they had still committed a criminal offence.

Bates, of Northampton, was fined £200, as were Lucy Crawford, 52, of Cambridge, and Bethany Mogie, 39, of Hertfordshire.

London-based Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, 21, who had previous convictions for similar protest-related offences, was fined £266.

Whipster, from Canterbury, admitted criminal damage by leaving a “hard, crusty layer of glue” on the window of a police vehicle while sticking himself to it. He was fined £120, as the judge took his financial situation into consideration.

May Adams, 68, of Greenwich, was fined £250, as the judge found her refusal to move out of the path of an ambulance a “serious” aggravating factor.

Margurite Doubleday, 67, of Gloucestershire, was fined £150.

Five others – Tim Speers, Daniell Thomas, Peter Morgan, Louise Lancaster and Iain Webb – did not attend court and were convicted of wilful obstruction after a trial was held in their absence.

Thomas and Speers were fined £200 while Morgan, who had previous convictions for similar protest-related offences, was fined £400.

Lancaster was fined £330 and Webb was fined £300.

Two defendants, 28-year-old Gabriella Ditton, of Norwich and 74-year-old Barry Mitchell, of Telford, each indicated not guilty pleas to wilful obstruction and will appear at Horsham Magistrates’ Court on 11 May.

Another three, Victoria Lindsell and Michelle Charlesworth, each accused of one count of wilful obstruction, and Louis McKechnie, charged with criminal damage, had their hearings adjourned until 28 April at Crawley Magistrates’ Court.

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