Six protesters who were involved in a track invasion on the opening lap of last year’s British Grand Prix have been convicted after a two-week trial.
Prosecutors claimed the members of the Just Stop Oil environmental campaign group, five of whom briefly sat on the circuit while the race was going on, risked “serious harm” to the Formula One drivers and the marshals who had to drag them off the track.
Emily Brocklebank, 24, Alasdair Gibson, 22, Louis McKechnie, 22, Bethany Mogie, 40, and Joshua Smith, 29, all broke onto the track while a sixth person, David Baldwin, 47, was found in a nearby car park with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner.
In a huge stroke of good fortune, the Formula One cars had slowed significantly by the time they reached the protesters because there were red flags for a multicar incident at Turn 1 in which Guanyu Zhou‘s Alfa Romeo vaulted the tyre barriers.
All six protesters denied causing a public nuisance and denied the prosecution’s claims that they created a risk of harm to themselves, F1 drivers and marshals at the event.
The jury deliberated for two days before returning with its verdict on Friday afternoon.
The protesters will be sentenced on March 31.