A jury acquitted three Just Stop Oil activists of criminal damage charges after they sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder, accepting their defense that human rights laws protected their protest. The jury found Rajan Naidu (74), Niamh Lynch (23), and Luke Watson (36) not guilty at Salisbury Crown Court following six hours of deliberation.
Legal defense
The activists argued they had "reasonable excuse" for their actions, citing Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights covering freedom of speech and protest. Judge Paul Dugdale instructed the jury to consider the balance between the law and the defendants' rights, noting that protecting freedom of speech can mean activity that would otherwise be unlawful may be regarded as lawful.
The protest
The protest took place on June 19, 2024, the day before the summer solstice, when the site expected around 15,000 visitors. Naidu and Lynch used color blasters filled with cornflour, talc, and orange dye to spray the 5,000-year-old stones, while Watson purchased the equipment and drove them to the site.
The cleaning cost £620.
Aftermath
Their solicitor Francesca Cociani said: "My clients are incredibly relieved by today's verdict that exonerated them of any wrongdoing." She added that "[...] was wholly inadequate and, in our view, should never have been brought, and amounted to an affront to their right to protest."
Lynch, now a master's student in ecology and conservation at the University of Exeter, said after the verdict: "I just want things to be better, I just want things to be fair and right." She added: "[...] I refuse to stand by and watch as our world burns around us."
Watson called the two-week trial "a complete waste of public money," arguing that a case involving £620 of damage should have been dealt with in a magistrates' court. Parliament created the public nuisance charge through the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which had previously drawn criticism from protesters.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
