The court acquitted the eco-activists who sprayed paint on Stonehenge
74-year-old Rajan Naidu, 23-year-old Oxford University student Niam Lynch, and 36-year-old Luke Watson were acquitted after a 10-day trial at Salisbury Crown Court, reports ThePublic.info citing BBC.
They denied all charges of damaging a protected ancient heritage monument and causing public inconvenience related to an action against Stonehenge, which was part of a protest by a group against fossil fuel use.
The trio admitted their participation in the action but cited "good reason" and their rights enshrined in Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights — freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly and protest — to prove their innocence.
Mr. Naidu from Birmingham, Ms. Lynch from Bedford, and Mr. Watson from Essex were accused of using two colored pistols filled with cornstarch, talcum, and orange dye to spray the monument during the protest on June 19, 2024. The court was told that the trio targeted Stonehenge a day before last year's summer solstice, where about 15,000 people had gathered to celebrate.
Mr. Watson purchased the equipment used during the attack and borrowed his grandmother's gasoline-powered car to transport accomplices to Stonehenge that morning. After the attack, Mr. Naidu and Ms. Lynch sat silently in front of the stones, where they were later arrested by police.
The powder was promptly cleaned off the stones, costing £620.
The defendants argued that it was a "peaceful protest," that the rights of others were not "substantially violated," and that they carefully chose the type of powder used. The stones did not suffer long-term damage, and they claimed that protests against fossil fuels were a lawful cause.
Prosecutor Simon Jones argued that the protest, filmed by other supporters of Just Stop Oil, was "carefully planned" and that it was an "act of blatant and obvious vandalism."
In giving legal directions to the jury, Judge Paul Dugdale stated that they must decide whether a conviction would be "proportionate interference" with the protesters' rights. He said that "everyone has the right to express their own opinion," even if we disagree with it.
"If people disagree with what our government is doing on certain issues, they have the right to protest against the actions or inactions of the government," he said.
"There are cases where defending the right to freedom of speech and protest may mean that activities which would otherwise be illegal are deemed lawful by the court to protect these rights," added the judge.
Lawyer Francesca Cocianni from the law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, representing the protesters, noted that the right to peaceful protest is "a fundamental pillar of our democratic society" which is "repeatedly" being "diminished."
