The High Court has dismissed an application to commit environmental protestor Dale Vincent for contempt of court because he did not fall within the definition of “persons unknown”.
Mr Vincent was a resident of Glyncoch, South Wales. Aggrieved at the environmental impacts of Craig yr Hesg quarry, Mr Vincent led protests on numerous occasions in 2024 and 2025.
The quarry secured an injunction against persons unknown in June 2024 which was renewed in June 2025 and applied to commit Mr Vincent for contempt of court for breaching the injunction in protests carried out in May and June 2025.
Ritchie J. dismissed the application, finding that Mr Vincent was, at the time the 2024 and 2025 injunctions were granted, well known to the claimant as an instigator of the protest activity, and a person who had repeatedly carried out exactly the conduct the injunctions sought to prohibit. The judge accepted the submissions made on Mr Vincent’s behalf that he was not, therefore, a “person unknown” and was excluded from the scope of the injunction.
In his judgment Ritchie J. distinguished Cuciurean v Secretary of State for Transport & Anor [2022] EWCA Civ 1519 and emphasised the exceptional nature of the “persons unknown” jurisdiction and the importance of personal service on all known persons in relation to whom a cause of action had already accrued.
Toby Fisher acted for Dale Vincent.