Just Stop Oil protesters spared jail for Silverstone track invasion during British Grand Prix

• In-car footage of the protesters on the track was shown to the jury during the trial

Six protesters who invaded the British Grand Prix track during last year's Formula 1 race have been spared jail.

Five of them sat down on Silverstone's Wellington Straight during the race last July to raise awareness of the campaign group Just Stop Oil.

Their trial at Northampton Crown Court was shown in-car footage of F1 stars Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon passing three men and two women who were sitting on or being dragged off the track.

The six had claimed the protest, which started after a red flag was signalled to halt the race, had followed a “meticulous” safety plan.

But they were found guilty of causing what the Crown said was “an immediate risk of serious harm” by sitting “in the face” of fast-moving vehicles.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Garnham said: “This was not trespass or obstruction of a highway or criminal damage – to put it colloquially this was in a different league.”

Three of the six defendants were given suspended prison terms while three others were given 12-month community orders after being found guilty of causing a public nuisance.

Louis McKechnie, 22, and 24-year-old Emily Brocklebank – who have a joint previous conviction for gluing themselves to the frame of a £70m Van Gogh painting days before the F1 protest – were given suspended prison sentences of 12 months and six months respectively, both suspended for two years.

Mother-of-four Bethany Mogie, 40, was given a six-month sentence of imprisonment, suspended for two years.

David Baldwin, 47, Alistair Gibson, 22 and Joshua Smith, 30, were each given 12-month community orders, with the latter two also required to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

The judge told the protesters that they had created a risk of death or serious injury, although he said the likelihood of harm occurring had been “relatively modest”.

The judge told the activists: “I accept that the motive for all of you was not to cause harm but instead to voice your concerns about climate change.

“None of you have committed any offence since the commission of this offence.”

The judge added that the track invasion had been carefully planned, was a deliberate breach of the law and had been carried out despite warnings about the danger of going onto the circuit.

During his sentencing remarks, the judge also said the case could be distinguished from other similar protests because it caused danger rather than inconvenience.

“That difference will be reflected in the sentences I impose,” the judge said.

Brocklebank, of Yeadon, Leeds; Gibson, from Aberdeen; Mogie, from St Albans; McKechnie, from Manchester; and Smith, from Lees in Oldham, went on to the race circuit before being removed by marshals.

Baldwin, of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, was found in a car park along with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner.

Video footage from various camera angles covering Silverstone was played at the activists’ trial, as well as personal video statements from five of the defendants recorded a day before the protest, including a claim that the world is “being destroyed for the benefit of a few people”.

McKechnie, who grew up in Weymouth in Dorset, told jurors the group had planned the action over two-and-a-half months, making it as safe as possible.

During the trial, Mogie asked the jury to consider a 2021 Unicef report, which said about a billion children around the world are at “extremely high risk” from the impacts of the climate crisis and pollution.

Mogie, who represented herself during the trial, said in her closing speech to the jury: “To love is to protect.

“And I hope you can see that’s what we set out to do that day at Silverstone, before and on the day, with our planning and by sitting on the track peacefully for all that we are trying to protect.”

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