A trio of Just Stop Oil protestors have been convicted of aggravated trespass after disrupting an England international cricket match.
The following defendants were convicted of a single charge of aggravated trespass following a trial at City of London Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 28th September 2023.
- Judit Murray, 69, of Plough Road, West Ewell, Surrey;
- Daniel Knorr, 21, of Green Street, Oxford;
- Jacob Bourne, 26, of Moorland Road, Hyde Park, Leeds.
Aggravated trespass is an offence contrary to section 68(1) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The maximum penalty on summary conviction is a fine at level 4 (currently £2,500) and/or 3 months' custody.
We have previously written an article summarising the legalities of aggravated trespass. Briefly, it is an offence for a person to trespass on land or property and obstruct, interfere or cause intimidation to anyone else engaging in lawful activity there.
Television cameras captured the moment that Murray, Knorr and Bourne ran onto the playing area at Lord's Cricket Ground on Wednesday, 28th June 2023 - the first day of the second Ashes test match between England and Australia.
Knorr threw orange powder on the infield before being physically removed by England's Jonny Bairstow. Bourne scattered orange powder on the infield before being tackled to the ground by stewards. Murray was tackled to the ground as she clambered over barriers onto the outfield.
The court heard that the crowd reacted with hostility to the three protestors and threw various missiles at them as they were led away.
The basis of their defence is not immediately apparent, although in a comedy moment during the previous hearing their solicitor, Hussain Hassan, suggested that the cricket match might not constitute a "lawful activity" and them running onto the playing area might not have caused disruption - even though the match was stopped for several minutes while their mess was cleaned up.
The court heard that the trio had been admitted to Lord's with tickets, the conditions of which clearly stated that they were not to trespass, enter the playing area or demonstrate. There were also numerous signs and announcements reminding spectators not to enter the playing area. The ground also has three foot tall barriers clearly denoting the playing area, which each of the defendants had clambered over.
District Judge Neeta Minhas was firmly of the view that the trio's actions had ticked off each element of the offence.
She said: "I am satisfied the three of them proactively did trespass on private property which was a playing field, that you disrupted or intended to disrupt a legal activity.
"The defences put forward on your behalf have not been successful. I find you all guilty of aggravated trespass."
The defendants were granted conditional bail until their sentencing hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 24th October 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment