Three activists from the Just Stop Oil environmental movement have been acquitted of all charges following the June 2024 demonstration action involving the Stonehenge Neolithic site. The jury at Salisbury Magistrate’s Court found Niamh Lynch, Rajan Naidu and Luke Watson not guilty, charged with damaging or destroying a protected monument and intentionally or negligently causing a serious public nuisance. The action had taken place on June 19, 2024, when Lynch and Naidu had sprayed an orange powder on three of Stonehenge’s megaliths, while Watson had helped plan and accompanied the two to the site. The stated goal was to urge the British government to sign an international fossil fuel treaty, pledging to end the extraction and use of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
“The judiciary,” said Rajan Naidu, 74, a social justice and environmental protection activist from Birmingham, “needs to wake up and start playing its shamefully neglected role in defending us and other species from the climate criminals of the rapacious billionaire class-the ruthless corporations that reap huge profits and other benefits while wiping out and polluting with impunity; industries and corporations that destabilize and devastate entire environments and now threaten the biosphere of our beautiful planet, our one and only life-support system. Life and survival before greed and profit! We need a global fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty right now.”
“I refuse to accept that it has to be this way, that billions of living beings should suffer and die needlessly in order to make a few rich people richer,” he argued. I just want things to be better, I just want things to be fair and just. If you see something you love being hurt, do whatever you can to help. It’s pretty simple. It’s absolutely natural. I may not be able to do much, but I absolutely refuse to do nothing. I refuse to stand by and watch as our world burns around us," Niamh Lynch, 23, a Master of Ecology and Conservation student from Bedford.
“I am happy with the verdict, but I feel that the last two weeks have been a complete waste of public money and that a case involving £620 worth of damages should have been dealt with in court,” said Luke Watson, 36, a carpenter from London.
Rajan Naidu explained the rationale for the nonviolent direct action, saying that despite years of lobbying, marches and demonstrations, the climate situation continues to worsen. He explained that the orange powder used was the same one employed in Hindu celebrations, where it is thrown among participants as a symbolic and festive gesture. It is a completely nontoxic and harmless substance, chosen partly because the strong winds on the Salisbury Plain were expected to disperse it quickly.
During the trial, the three defendants explained that they acted in a planned and conscious manner to draw attention to the climate emergency and the need for a global treaty to move away from fossil fuels. “You cannot love nature without being acutely aware of the damage we are doing,” argued Niamh Lynch, recounting her own experience of volunteering to monitor the decline of seabirds including puffins on an island off the coast of Ireland. “Twenty-five years ago the reefs were full of birds, now we count puffin carcasses. Yes, individual actions are important, but me driving an electric car is not going to save the world. The government is legally bound by the Paris agreements to reduce emissions and is not doing enough, yet I am the one in court.”
After a two-week trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of acquittal on both counts. During the trial, the prosecution had argued that the intervention had caused outrage and upset among the public, affecting a monument of extraordinary historical and symbolic importance. During the hearings, Judge Dugdale had emphasized the significance of the site, recalling that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, not just a painting. The prosecutor had also argued that the defendants had acted recklessly, risking permanent damage to Stonehenge and compromising the enjoyment of the site for the 15,000 or so people expected at the summer solstice celebrations scheduled for the following day. The prosecution had also relied on the irritation and anguish the episode allegedly aroused among those in attendance and the public who followed the news.
Instead, the defense presented evidence that the substance used was composed of simple cornstarch and food coloring, which was completely removed in the same day at a cost of 620 pounds (equivalent to about 720 euros), leaving no permanent traces on either the megaliths or the lichens covering them. The action had lasted about thirty seconds, at the end of which the activists had sat down to await arrest. In that context, the site had not been closed to the public, and only one English Heritage employee, who had intervened to stop them, had stated that he had felt emotional distress.
During the trial, the three defendants explained that they acted in a planned and conscious manner to drawattention to the climate emergency and the need for a global treaty tomove away from fossil fuels. Luke Watson said he verified that the materials used would not cause permanent damage and that he chose the color blasters by purchasing them from a commercial site, identical to those used in previous demonstrations. According to his testimony, research indicated that the stones at Stonehenge are not porous, making complete removal of dust possible. All three defendants reiterated that they would not have pursued the action if they had the slightest doubt about the possibility of causing damage to the monument. The intent, they said, was not to offend or harm the public, but to create a symbolic gesture that could draw media attention to the climate crisis.
With the lack of solid evidence to support the charge, prosecutor Simon Jones concluded his indictment with a personal attack, calling the activists confused, hypocritical and even violent, claiming that their gesture had caused serious public irritation. In any case, no concrete evidence was produced on the matter. In its argument, the defense insisted on the right to peaceful protest. Attorney Audrey Mogan, who represented Niamh Lynch, recalled that many civil liberties, such as women’s right to vote or the ability for women to serve on juries, were won through forms of protest. She stressed that the law protects the freedom to demonstrate, even when a message may be uncomfortable or offensive.
Francesca Cociani, Rajan Naidu’s attorney, also reminded that the law protects the right to communicate even messages that others may consider shocking or offensive, quoting Justice Sedley, “Freedom just to speak inoffensively is not worth having.”
Responding to the prosecution’s arguments, Gerard Pitt, Luke Watson’s defense counsel, called the idea that the action had been a violation of history baseless. “What does that mean?” he asked. “Stonehenge has stood for five thousand years.” Pitt then recalled the origins of the right to trial by jury, enshrined in Magna Carta and reaffirmed in Bushell’s famous case. “Freedom of speech is not worth a dime,” he declared, “if juries like you are not prepared to defend it.” The lawyer urged the jury to recognize in the actions of the three defendants a form of free speech compatible with the principles of a democratic society.
The verdict of acquittal comes after Just Stop Oil, in March 2025, announced the end of its direct action campaign, having obtained a commitment from the British government in 2024 not to allow new oil and gas extraction projects. While the movement’s supporters have ended the season of protests, they said they will continue to support those facing politically motivated prosecutions and to keep the focus on the global climate crisis alive.
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| Just Stop Oil's three activists acquitted for action at Stonehenge in June 2024 |
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