A climate change protester who blocked part of the Sydney Harbour Bridge earlier this year has been sentenced to a minimum of eight months in prison.
Protest action by Deanna Maree Coco, also known as Violet Coco, on April 13 saw a lane of traffic blocked by a vehicle she was driving and a distress flare ignited.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to several offences.
In Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court after sentencing, Magistrate Allison Hawkins refused Coco bail.
Coco was protesting as part of recently formed climate activist group Fireproof Australia, which describes itself as "a campaign of civil resistance proportional to the existential threat we face".
In March and April, similar group Blockade Australia marched through the CBD, blocking peak-hour lanes in the Sydney Harbour tunnel and on the bridge, and also blockaded parts of Port Botany.
The action resulted in a number of arrests.
Tough new penalties for activities that "shut down major economic activity" were introduced by the state government, and supported by NSW Labor.
At the time, NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the state government was "on the side of climate change action" but could not stand for "a handful of anarchist protesters who would wish to bring this city to a halt".
Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul Dunstan said the behaviour of protesters was "nothing short of criminal".
Coco's lawyers have lodged an appeal against her sentence, with a hearing set for March next year.
