Two Just Stop Oil activists charged after orange paint sprayed on private jets at Stansted

Two activists affiliated with environmental group Just Stop Oil are on trial after prosecutors said they broke into the airside area of London Stansted Airport and sprayed orange paint on two private jets.

Prosecutors told jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court that 29-year-old Jennifer Kowalski and 23-year-old Cole Macdonald cut through a perimeter fence on the north side of the runway on June 20 and walked to a private-hangar area where they allegedly used paint-loaded fire extinguishers to spray the aircraft. The alleged incident, the court heard, occurred hours after a jet chartered by singer Taylor Swift had landed at the Essex airport while she was in London for concerts.

Opening the case, prosecutor David Barr said the defendants were seen by airport staff as they sprayed orange paint on two private aircraft parked in front of hangar 12, a part of the airport used by private jets and rented by Harrods Aviation. Barr told the jury the pair, wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts, then sat down and held hands on the taxiway beside the planes.

Barr said a duty operations controller, identified in court as Jade Care, alerted ramp staff after spotting the pair. Rob Careless, a member of the refuelling team, reported seeing the defendants spraying paint. Airport operations and airport police were contacted and officers arrived at about 5:18 a.m.; the prosecutor said the pair had been on the airfield from about 5:05 a.m. and were detained and arrested shortly after police arrived.

Ground staff initially hosed the aircraft with water to limit the damage, the court was told, but the orange paint could only be removed with an aviation-approved cleaning chemical. Mr. Barr said staff spent a total of about 45 hours over several days cleaning the paint from the jets.

Kowalski, from Dumbarton, and Macdonald, from Brighton, appeared in the dock for the start of the trial. Both answered police questions only with “no comment” during interviews, prosecutors said. Jurors were shown photographs and videos, some supplied by the defendants and posted on social media, that purported to record the actions on the day.

Defence counsel Laura O’Brien said the pair did not intend to cause damage to the aircraft and did not think their actions would cause harm to the planes’ value or use. “The defendants believed at the time that the owners of the planes would consent to the damage because they did not believe their actions would cause damage or impact the value or use of the plane,” she told the court.

Around ten supporters, including a Just Stop Oil press officer, sat in the public gallery. The defendants denied charges of causing criminal damage. The trial remains under way at Chelmsford Crown Court.