Three climate change protesters have been found guilty of serious offenses after running onto the field during the men’s Ashes Test at Lord’s.
The Just Stop Oil protest, carried out by Judit Murray, 69, Daniel Knorr, 21, and Jacob Bourne, 27, stopped play during the first morning of the England v Australia match on June 28 when security and ground crew cleared an orange powder . which was thrown onto the field and kept the ground from being damaged.
The trio, who said they wanted to make headlines for their protest against climate change and not disrupt or damage the pitch, were found guilty after a trial at the City of London Magistrates’ Court.
England player Jonny Bairstow carried Knorr off the field, while champagne corks and fruit were thrown at Bourne by cricket fans as he was led off the field and Murray was tackled before she could reach the wicket and held down on the grass.
District Judge Neeta Minhas said she was convinced the trio had broken much-discussed rules that ban ticket holders from entering, entering the playing field or giving demonstrations.
She said, “From my common sense perspective, once you cross the barrier, you have gone beyond the area of the ticket you were given.”
Murray, of Plow Road, West Ewell, Surrey; Knorr, of Green Street, Oxford; and Bourne, of Moorland Road, Hyde Park, Leeds, were released conditionally on bail before being sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 24.
The judge, who said that “the purpose was to disrupt the game”, added: “I am satisfied that all three proactively entered private property which was a playing field, that you disrupted or intended to engage in a lawful activity was to be disturbed.
“The defenses put forward on your behalf have been unsuccessful. I find you all guilty of grave trespass.”
The court heard there is a 90cm high metal fence in front of the stand at Lord’s, followed by a gap and 90cm high LED signs looping around the ground and then a boundary rope all acting as “markers” – along with many signs and loudspeaker messages warning ticket holders that they are not allowed to enter the playing field.
Nick Rowe, the security operations manager at Lord’s, said the protesters came “very close” to the wicket and play had to be stopped for a short period immediately after the incident.
He said he was near the Allen Stand at the ground in St John’s Wood, north-west London, when “an unexpected roar from the crowd, much louder than you would expect from a scoop” warned him that something was wrong.
He told the court: “I heard a roar from the crowd. There were clearly people on the pitch. There was a large cloud of orange powder in the air.”
Mr Rowe said he could see the game had stopped and the stewarding team was running towards the group of people who had been detained.
He told the court one of the men was held on the ground before being led away, while another was carried off the grass by Bairstow.
Mr Rowe added: “When I took the gentleman off the field my main concern was actually his safety.
“The crowd was really ‘anti’ – a few champagne corks were thrown at him and some fruit.”
Mr Rowe stated that “anything green is considered a play area”.
Field supervisor Fawad Mujahid said he saw a woman and two men running on the ground and orange powder on the field as “several” colleagues rushed to the scene.
He told the court that one man was “restrained by Jonny Bairstow” and that the cricketer “literally carried that person towards the stands”.
Mr Mujahid said he saw a second person lying on the ground, and the female protester being held elsewhere on the grass.
Nick Collins, the head of security at Lord’s – who said the match was “probably the biggest game of our season”, added: “It has an impact on the rest of the day. The biggest concern for me is whether the ground has been damaged.
“Cricket has broad specifications and a set of rules about the field it is played on. If the field had been damaged in some way, we would not have been able to play.
‘We had to check. Horn players arrived. Everyone was trying to blow the powder away and make sure the ground wasn’t affected.’
He added: “The crowd got very excited and angry. We got a lot of booing. We’re not football. We don’t usually get a lot of obscenity thrown around.”
Testifying, Knorr described how he ran in a straight line onto the pitch in a “heartbreaking” manner and then tried to have a chat with Bairstow as the player carried him away.
He told the court: “It was no surprise that I was intercepted. It was a bit of a surprise that it was one of the cricketers.
‘It was Jonny Bairstow. I tried to have a conversation with him, but he wasn’t interested.’
He said his goal was to make headlines and the protest made headlines in several newspapers the next day.
He added: “Lord’s is known as the home of cricket and the Ashes is one of, if not the most famous, competitions – so it would have a national and international audience. The potential would be huge.”