Four Just Stop Oil protesters jailed over Manchester Airport plot

ITV News

27-05-2025

Four environmental activists from the Just Stop Oil campaign have been jailed for planning to disrupt operations at Manchester Airport.
The incident took place during the peak summer travel season on 5 August 2024, with Daniel Knorr, 22, Leonorah Ward, 22, Indigo Rumbelow, 30 and Margaret Reid, 54, attempting to halt flights and cause widespread disruption.
Their plot involved them cutting their way through the metal fencing at the southern end of the airport, before glueing themselves to the taxiways.
Greater Manchester Police arrested the activists as they made their way to the airport.
The group were found with angle grinders, bolt cutters, superglue, sand and banners with slogans including 'oil kills'.
Prosecutors said their actions would have seriously disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.
Nicola Wells, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, described the incident as a 'targeted attack' on one of the UK's busiest airports.
Ms Wells, prosecuting, said: 'Whenever the right to protest crosses into criminality, whether by causing a public nuisance or distress to members of the public, we will not hesitate to prosecute these cases."
All four were found guilty of conspiracy to intentionally cause a public nuisance, before being sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday 27 May.
Knorr, 23, from Birmingham, received a 24-month prison sentence, Rumbelow, 31, from London, was given 30 months, Reid, 54, from Kendal, was sentenced to 18 months and Ward, 22, also from Birmingham, received 18 months.
Ward began shouting in the dock and holding up signs on an orange card as she was being led down to start her sentence, saying: "Courts are complicit, billions will die without action."
A fifth member of the group, Noah Crane, 19, of Second Avenue, Birmingham, was acquitted. He was not with the group on the day of the proposed protest.
The group's actions were part of wider climate protests organised by Just Stop Oil, a campaign aimed at pushing the UK government to halt new oil and gas licensing.
It was the second day of the sentencing hearing, which began on Friday 23 May when submissions were made on behalf of the defendants.
Reid, representing herself, told the court: "I did feel morally compelled to act in the face of death. That remains the case and I stand by my motives for this."
Reid went on to say that the action "didn't come from a place of arrogance, more like a place of service".
She said: "All I ever wanted to do is to make a positive contribution to society, and this action was an extension of that. I have to find other ways of making change."
Laura O'Brien, defending Ward and Rumbelow, told the court: 'These are otherwise law abiding citizens, they are not defendants who have no regard for the public.'
She added: "These are good people. These are people who have a deep fundamental care not just for their families, not just for people in this country, but for people around the globe."
Ms O'Brien appealed to the judge to pass a sentence short enough to allow for their release, given that the time they had already spent in custody on remand pre-trial counts towards the final sentence.
She said: "There's sound basis that the time they've spent on remand is sufficient", adding, "Any further detention would be disproportionate."
John Dove, defending Knoor, said: "He gave evidence at trial and he was very open about his actions and his motivations.