Fracking activists to appeal against prison sentences

Three activists were first people to receive jail terms for anti-fracking protests in UK

Three environmental activists who became the first people to be jailed for an anti-fracking protest in the UK are to appeal against their sentences amid growing anger over their "excessive and extraordinary" punishments.

Last week, Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, and Richard Roberts, 36, were sentenced to 16 months in prison, and Richard Loizou, 31, was given 15 months after a jury at Preston crown court convicted them of causing a public nuisance.