In 2018, environmental activists blocked access to a fracking site of energy firm Cuadrilla, protesting the social and environmental impact of the gas extraction technology. Following this, three of them were charged and handed prison sentences of 15 to 16 months for “causing a public nuisance”. Not long after the sentence, however, it turned out that the judge had personal ties to the oil and gas industry and had refused the defendants’ right to present essential evidence in their case. Their sentences were overturned.