JSO trio who invaded Ashes Test and threw down orange paint deny trespassing

A Just Stop Oil trio have denied aggravated trespass (Image: GETTY) Three Just Stop Oil protesters who disrupted an Ashes Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground by throwing orange powder on the pitch have denied aggravated trespass. Jacob Bourne, 27, Judit Murray, 69, and Daniel Knorr, 21, stopped play during the second Test between England and Australia on 28 June. They all pleaded not guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to aggravated trespass having been accused of obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity. According to the charges, having allegedly trespassed on the venue, the trio entered a “redistricted pitch area” and interrupted the match “by throwing orange powder on the pitch”. The group are disputing the trespassing allegations and say they want to hear proof the property is actually private, Westminister Magistrates’ Court heard. Hussain Hassan, defending, said the trio think it is possible for a person to enter the field without a match being disrupted. Mr Hassan also challenged prosecutors to prove the match was lawful. Murray, of Plough Road, West Ewell, Surrey, Knorr, of Green Street, Oxford, and Bourne, of Moorland Road, Hyde Park, Leeds, were granted bail and will face trial at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on September 28. Their bail condition is not to enter the grounds of a sporting event. Also in court was JSO climate activist Rachel Mann, 64, who was banned from London for 12 months after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage to the Bank of England in a separate incident on Halloween last year. Mann, who caused £6,890 worth of damage by spraying the words “Just Stop Oil” in orange paint on the building’s wall, was also made to pay £1,000 in compensation and a £114 legal fee. She told the court: “I didn’t do what I did lightly, I did it because I was desperate, and I’m still desperate now.” Austen Espeut, 75, of Chippenham in Wiltshire, denied causing £5,543.80 of criminal damage in relation to the same incident. He will stand trial at Inner London Crown Court on August 29. JSO is calling for an end to all new coal, oil and gas projects in the UK.