Zimbabwe News Update
herald
7 min read
LONDON.—Two Just Stop Oil activists who sought to spray orange paint on Taylor Swift’s private jet have been spared jail.Jennifer Kowalski, 29, from Dumbarton, and Cole Macdonald, 23, from Brighton, were hoping to paint the pop star’s jet at Stansted Airport, but instead sprayed planes belonging to an insurance firm and an investment group.The pair — found guilty of criminal damage at an earlier trial— hugged in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court after they were both given suspended prison sentences.Judge Alexander Mills said their aim was publicity, both for Just Stop Oil and themselves, adding: “What greater publicity could there be than anything related to Taylor Swift?”Their trial had heard how they got through a fence at the Essex airport on 20 July 2024 with an angle grinder, before taking turns spraying the planes and filming it.
The judge said: “I’ve no doubt the reason you switched to the other jets was because you had been spotted.”He said an aircraft refueller described how he honked the horn of his vehicle and “described you seemingly being triggered into action”. Kowalski who had previous convictions over protests in Scotland, was sentenced to five months in prison suspended for 12 months.
She was also fined £480.Macdonald was given six weeks in prison suspended for eight months.Both have been excluded from Stansted Airport, unless they have a valid ticket to travel, for the duration of their suspended sentence orders.The judge said Kowalski’s actions were “affected by your neurodivergence”, and also noted Macdonald’s autism diagnosis.Laura O’Brien, for Kowalski, said Kowalski had a “conscientious motive” and the protest — in an area of the airport for private aviation —was “intended to have a minimal impact on the public”.
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