Five Just Stop Oil protesters who stormed a West End performance of Les Miserables have been sentenced to do community work.
The actions of Hannah Taylor, 23, Lydia Gribbin, 28, Hanan Ameur, 23, plus Noah Crane and Poppy Bliss, who are both 20, left the Sondheim Theatre with an estimated bill of £60,000 after having to cancel the October 5 performance, Westminster Magistrates’ Court previously heard.
All five were found guilty after a trial of aggravated trespass after they disrupted a performance, while Gribbin and Crane were additionally found guilty of causing £2,000 worth of criminal damage to the orchestra pit netting.
During sentencing on Thursday Judge Briony Clarke said the disruption was “planned well in advance” and the defendants had brought bike locks, bought tickets for the show and wore T-shirts bearing the name of their cause before climbing on to the stage.
It was a “deliberate act” in which “a great number of people were inconvenienced”, the judge said.
The “angry” audience of around 1,000 people was asked to leave the auditorium before the performance was brought to a halt around an hour later, the court had previously heard.
The court was told the netting had suffered “structural damage” from the weight of the two protesters standing on it.
The cost of repairing the damage and refunding the audience was covered by the theatre’s insurance.
The protesters entered the stage during a performance of Do You Hear The People Sing?
One of the activists unfurled a flag with the “Just Stop Oil message” on it, the court heard, as others attached themselves to the set.
They occupied the stage for around an hour before police removed them.
Prosecutor Jason Seetal had previously told the court: “Just prior to the interval, (the protesters) have risen from their seats and moved to the stage area.
“Gribbin and Crane climbed on netting covering the orchestra pit … it suffered structural damage.
“The production was stopped … it was occupied for around an hour.”
Asked how the audience had reacted to the group disrupting the performance, theatre manager Daniel Lewis had told the court: “I heard frustration, I heard anger, I heard swearing.”
“The audience were singing to try and drown out the sound of the protest,” he added.
Mobile phone footage showed theatregoers reacting angrily to the news the performance had been called off.
Giving evidence, Gribbin said she did not want the orchestra pit to be damaged by the protest and believed it would be safe to stand on the netting.
In a written statement Les Miserables company manager Matt Byham told the court he was “angry they had done this while a child actor was on stage”.
On Thursday, Ameur, of Islington, north London, was sentenced to a 12-month community order, a 15-day rehabilitation requirement and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Taylor, of Dronfield Woodhouse, Derbyshire, was sentenced to a 12-month community order, a 15-day rehabilitation requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Bliss, of Thurston, Suffolk, was given a 12-month community order, a 10-day rehabilitation requirement and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Crane was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 130 hours of unpaid work.
Gribbin was sentenced to a 12-month community order, a 10-day rehabilitation requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work.
All of the defendants were each ordered to pay £279 costs and a £114 surcharge.
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