Just Stop Oil: Protesters guilty aggravated trespass at Les Misérables show

Five Just Stop Oil protesters have been found guilty of aggravated trespass after they stormed a performance of Les Misérables in London's West End.

Two of the activists were also found guilty of criminal damage after standing on the theatre's orchestra pit netting.

The show at Sondheim Theatre was halted at 21:00 GMT on 5 October 2023, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

The estimated cost to the theatre of cancelling the performance was £60,000.

The protesters entered the stage during a performance of Do You Hear The People Sing? and locked themselves to the set.

The "angry" audience of around 1,000 people was asked to leave the auditorium and the performance was brought to a halt around an hour later after police removed the activists.

Having denied the charge, Hannah Taylor, 23, Lydia Gribbin, 28, Hanan Ameur, 22, Noah Crane, 18, and Poppy Bliss, 19, were found guilty of aggravated trespass following a trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Gribbin and Crane were additionally found guilty of causing £2,000 worth of criminal damage to the theatre's orchestra pit netting which is designed to protect the musicians below from objects falling off the stage.

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 court heard.

Asked how the audience had reacted to the group disrupting the performance, theatre manager Daniel Lewis told the court: "I heard frustration, I heard anger, I heard swearing."

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.

Les Miserables company manager Matt Byham said he was "angry" the protest had happened when a child actor was on stage.

All five protesters will be sentenced at a later date.

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