Tottenham resident and climate activist 'threatened with deportation'

A petition has been signed by just under 7,400 people to call on the Home Office to stop the deportation of Marcus Decker

A Tottenham resident has been ‘threatened with deportation’ after he attended a climate activist protest.

Marcus Decker scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and blocked the Dartford Crossing on 18th October 2022 with fellow Just Stop Oil protester Morgan Trowland, after which he was sentenced two years and seven months in prison.

On Sunday, 4th June, Marcus’ partner Holly Cullen-Davies launched a petition on change.org, claiming the protester – who is a German citizen – is now ‘threatened with deportation’.

Holly’s petition has raised just under 7,400 signatures, with a target of 7,500.

As part of the petition, the Hornsey resident wrote: “This double punishment is devastating for us. If deported, he would be separated from us, his family, his home, community and adopted country. Marcus has already been separated from us for 7 months and now he might never come home again.”

“Marcus put his own liberty and body on the line for those suffering from the climate crisis. But he is more than just an activist – anyone that knows Marcus knows he is a gentle, thoughtful and compassionate human being who would only act proportionately to the crisis we all face. This is the man that I love. A man who sang my children to sleep at night.

“Every day could now be the day that the dreaded letter from the Home Office arrives. Marcus will then have 20 days to appeal the deportation decision.”

The petition has gained support from the local Haringey community, with Extinction Rebellion Haringey and Harmless Store Hornsey calling on residents to sign.

A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said: “The treatment of Marcus Decker is unfathomably wicked.

“He was sentenced to two years and seven months, following his Just Stop Oil protest atop the Dartford crossing last October, under the new offence of Public Nuisance, part of the recent police, crime, sentencing and courts Act. This legislation was introduced by the then Home Secretary, Priti Patel, in order to allow for disproportionate sentencing of non-violent climate protesters.

“Marcus is currently being held in Highpoint Prison in Suffolk, but this draconian punishment is not sufficient for a heartless, morally bankrupt administration. Because the sentencing ceiling has been raised under the new act, his sentence crosses the threshold for mandatory deportation, banishing him to Germany, his place of birth, without leave to return…ever. This act will destroy a family.

“His partner Holly described their situation: ‘Marcus came to Britain three years ago. We fell in love, and he took on my children as their stepfather. […] It felt like the judge knew he would break our family apart by sentencing Marcus to this time.’

“In fact with this ruling, Judge Shane Collery showed utter disregard for the UK Borders Act assurance that if: ‘you are socially and culturally integrated in the UK’ and ‘you have a genuine and subsisting relationship with a qualifying partner, or a genuine and subsisting relationship with a qualifying child and the effect of your deportation on the partner or child would be unduly harsh’, then an exception should be made. This concern for the child is amplified by guidance on ‘compelling circumstances’ such as ‘the impact of deportation on the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of any child in the UK.’

“When sentencing Judge Collery said he wanted to deter others from copycat actions: ‘You plainly believed you knew better than everyone else … In short, to hell with everyone else.’

“It is ironic that this accusation was aimed at two activists whose very mission was to sound the alarm, on our behalf, of the danger of global hellfire. At least someone cares about the children.”

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