Just Stop Oil man guilty of track invasion

An Aberdeen man is among six Just Stop Oil climate change protesters to have been found guilty of risking “serious harm” to Formula One drivers and race marshals during a track invasion at last year’s British Grand Prix.

Jurors at Northampton Crown Court convicted the four men and two women of causing a public nuisance.

They were shown footage of five of them sitting on and being dragged off the circuit at Silverstone as two Formula One cars passed close by.

Alasdair Gibson and Louis McKechnie, both 22; Bethany Mogie, 40; David Baldwin, 47; Emily Brocklebank, 24; and 29-year-old Joshua Smith all claimed the “meticulous” protest did not risk serious harm.

All six defendants gave evidence at their trial, claiming the protest, which started after a red flag was signalled to halt the race, had followed a “meticulous” safety plan.

Jurors deliberated for eight hours and 47 minutes over three days before returning guilty verdicts on the activists.

The Crown said they had clearly caused an immediate risk of serious harm by sitting “in the face” of fast-moving vehicles.

Gibson, from Aberdeen; Brocklebank, of Yeadon, Leeds; Mogie, from St Albans; McKechnie, from Manchester; and Smith, from Lees in Oldham, went on to the race circuit during the protest.

Baldwin, of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, was found in a car park along with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner and was said by the Crown to have been “in it together” with his co-defendants.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Simon Jones told the court: “As events unfolded, the F1 Grand Prix had started and it was under a red flag after a serious accident had occurred at the very start.

“Each of these defendants were present at Silverstone and they were intent on causing a disruption to the race.

“It is not in dispute that five of the defendants in this case – all of them save for David Baldwin – made it on to the race track and they did not have permission to be there.

“There is no dispute as to that, and they sat down in front of the ongoing cars – Formula One motor racing cars.

“They will inevitably say that this was done as an act of protest and in order to bring publicity to the cause and demands they make.”

Video footage from various camera angles covering Silverstone was played to the jury, as well as personal video statements from five of the defendants recorded a day before the protest.

This included a claim that the world is “being destroyed for the benefit of a few people”.

All of the defendants were granted bail after agreeing not to become involved in further protests while awaiting sentence.

GRAND PRIX: Aberdeen’s Alasdair Gibson, second from left, was part of the protest.