Just Stop Oil: A take a look at their prime ten worst moments after Stonehenge

From dousing precious Van Gogh artwork with orange paint to crashing a West End performance of Les Misérables – there isn’t much Just Stop Oil won’t do to get their message across.

Since the group exploded onto the scene in 2022, they have continued to commit controversial acts all in the name of mother nature.

They haven’t shied away from disrupting the British public’s day to day lives either, shutting down the Dartford Bridge and nearly causing an accident by trespassing on the tracks of the Grand Prix. 

However their latest stunt desecrating the Stonehenge has been met with strong criticism and frustration as political figures from across the spectrum have called for tougher sentences for the eco-clowns.

As they continue with their protests – which saw some recently break into an airfield believing they were lathering Taylor Swift‘s jet with paint – we take a look at the divisive group’s top ten worst moments. 

Stonehenge 

Their most recent blunder saw two Just Stop Oil activists trample through a security barrier at Stonehenge and sprawled their orange paint across the ancient stones. 

Video footage posted on social media showed two people, wearing white shirts with Just Stop Oil emblazoned on the front, running up to the ancient monoliths with canisters and spraying paint all over them.

In a heroic attempt to stop the group desecrating the stones, one woman was seen desperately trying to drag the protesters away before other members of the public piled in to help her.

The protesters, who were named as Niamh Lynch, 21, a student from Oxford, and Rajan Naidu, 73, from Birmingham, have now been arrested by police on suspicion of damaging the historical monument.

However the eco-clowns continue to stand by their actions despite fears they may have impacted a ‘very rare’ lichen that lives on the rocks.

In an interview with Sky News, Just Stop Oil supporter Ben Larsen, 26, said: ‘Well you can call them criminal damage if you like, it’s a bit of orange dust on a rock that’s weathered 5,000 years of British weather.’ 

He added: ‘It’s a beautiful ancient monument but this is orange dust. It’s orange dust on stone. All that we need to do is wait for it to rain and all this will be washed off.

‘And these have been the 18 wettest months on record. So we’re not going to have to wait very long even. It’s unwise to get hung up on tactics.’

Although English Heritage have said there is ‘no visible damage’ to Stonehenge history steward Tim Daw has aired his concerns for the lichen plant organisms on the stone. 

Mr Daw told BBC Breakfast that he was ‘worried’ about the lichen on the monument, and said of yesterday’s attack: ‘I was shocked and saddened. I couldn’t believe it.

‘Stonehenge is so precious, not just to me but to so many people. To do this act, which I think has worked against their cause, just seems pointless and damaging.’

English Heritage, which manages Stonehenge, said removing the orange powder could still have a ‘harmful impact’ though by ‘eroding the already fragile stone and damaging the lichens’.

Les Misérables

Usually people go to the theatre to sit back, relax and enjoy the show – but that proves slightly impossible when Just Stop Oil are in town. 

Unfortunately for some theatregoers, Just Stop Oil decided to make their own feature during  a performance of Les Misérables in London’s West End last year.

The group made their theatre debut during a pivotal moment in the musical, taking the stage whilst brandishing their own flag. 

The interruption also confused the audience who up until this point had presumably wanted the revolutionaries to win. 

Playing out at Sondheim Theatre, the act was stopped at about 9pm on October 5 last year when activists locked themselves to the set.

The ‘angry’ audience of around 1,000 people were asked to leave the auditorium before the performance was brought to a screeching halt around an hour later. 

The estimated price tag of cancelling the performance was an eye-watering £60,000 for the theatre. 

Hannah Taylor, 23, Lydia Gribbin, 28, Hanan Ameur, 22, Noah Crane, 18, and Poppy Bliss, 19, denied aggravated trespass and all five were found guilty. 

The Ashes

Determined to inconvenience every part of British life, the eco-warriors also set their sight on the world of sport.

Only occurring every two years, the Ashes is among the most anticipated sporting events.

Many sportsmen were presumably more concerned about bagging the win than Just Stop Oil invading the pitch at Lords during a pivotal moment in the 2nd test at the end of June last year. 

The activists launched orange powder across the grass sparking outrage from the crowd and irritating England’s wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow. 

As one of the protesters ambled towards the wicket, the Yorkshireman snapped into action and swallowed him up in a fireman’s lift. 

To the delight of fans at the ground, Bairstow then carried the clown off the pitch into the waiting arms of the police. 

Meanwhile England captain Ben Stokes stopped the other protester as he guarded the pitch closely, assisted by other players including the Australian batsmen who seemed fairly bemused. 

The protesters, Judit Murray, Surrey, Daniel Knorr and Jacob Bourne were all later found guilty of aggravated trespass but were spared jail. 

Attacking Vincent Van Goth’s Sunflowers 

In October 2022, Just Stop Oil decided they were going to take their artistic vision for a classic painting into their own hands, throwing tomato soup over Vincent Van Goth’s Sunflowers.

The painting, which was protected by glass was not damaged in the stunt, which was orchestrated by one of JSO’s most high profile activists: Phoebe Plummer. 

Plummer, 23, – who has been in and out of custodial sentences for years due to her actions – has been part of numerous JSO stunts over the years.

But despite her high-profile among the group she is best known for the failed soup-vandalism attempt.

Considered by some to be a Joan of Arc type figure to the group, she would later be found guilty of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.

The Dartford Crossing 

During the same month, two JSO activists staged perhaps the most logistically impressive protest of them all by climbing up the Dartford Crossing and remaining there for hours. 

Morgan Trowland, 40, and Marcus Decker, 34, were jailed after they used ropes and other climbing equipment to scale the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, causing gridlock when police cordoned the area off. 

The pair hoisted a banner between two pillars of the bridge which links the M25 in Essex and Kent, and slept in hammocks in freezing temperatures overnight. 

The road beneath was closed by police for fears over their safety, causing traffic chaos – but the duo were eventually arrested after coming down the following day.

Structural engineer Trowland and private tutor Decker denied causing a public nuisance, arguing it was a protest.

The pair were later jailed for three years, and two years and seven months respectively.

Praising the sentences, Conservative MP Gareth Johnson – whose Dartford constituency covers the bridge – said: ‘As far as I’m concerned it’s not a day too long for either of them.

‘They caused untold misery to residents in Dartford and beyond. I had constituents unable to make hospital appointments or pick up children from school or get about their normal lives.’ 

Just Stop Oil claimed it would ‘not be deterred by these draconian sentences’.

Delivering a letter to Emily Thornberry

Politics is a divisive beast, but regardless of whether you loath or love their policies many of us wouldn’t make a guest appearance at their family homes.

However Just Stop Oil decided to do just that – taking their grievances to Emily Thornberry’s home. 

In March JSO, led by none other than Plummer, rocked up to the home of the Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales with a list of demands.

After completing their task, Plummer, who had already been arrested for a string of disturbances, informed the waiting police officers she had breached her bail conditions. 

The privately-educated activist was subsequently arrested for breaching her bail conditions. 

British Grand Prix

In July 2022, a group of JSO activists waddled onto the track at Silverstone and disrupted the British Grand Prix. 

Shocking footage showed wardens scrambling to remove the demonstrators before a serious accident occured.   

The six protesters were spared jail for the track invasion which risked the lives of both Formula One drivers and marshals at the event.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Simon Jones told the court: ‘As events unfolded, the F1 Grand Prix had started and it was under a red flag after a serious accident had occurred at the very start.

‘Each of these defendants were present at Silverstone and they were intent on causing a disruption to the race.

‘It is not in dispute that five of the defendants in this case – all of them save for David Baldwin – made it on to the racetrack and they did not have permission to be there.

‘There is no dispute as to that, and they sat down in front of the ongoing cars – Formula One motor racing cars.

‘They will inevitably say that this was done as an act of protest and in order to bring publicity to the cause and demands they make.’

Louis McKechnie, Emily Brocklebank and Bethany Mogie, who were among five campaigners that were dragged off the circuit at Silverstone as two Formula One cars passed close by, were given suspended jail sentences. 

Snooker   

From crashing the Ashes and the Grand Prix – it doesn’t seem the eco-zealots are too fond of the world of sport.

In April 2023, JSO protestor Edred Whittingham, who was previously jailed for blocking an oil terminal, caused quite the ruckus at snooker World Championship game.

The eco-clown drowned table at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in orange paint meaning the match had to be cancelled.

Interrupting the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry, Edred jumped on the table releasing a packet of orange dye.

A female protester, Margaret Reid, 52, was stopped from attacking the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi on table two by the quick-thinking response of referee Olivier Marteel.

Snooker fans jeered and booed the male activist as he interrupted play, with one fan heard to be jeering: ‘Get him off!’

South Yorkshire Police said a 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and are in police custody

Margaret Reid, 52, a former museum professional from Kendal, Cumbria, and Edred Whittingham, 25 were found guilty of criminal damage after a one day trial at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

They will be sentenced on July 10.

Following his attack on the snooker championship, prolific Just Stop Oil activist, Whittingham, was banned from his old university – Exeter – after disrupting his very own graduation ceremony in February. 

Chelsea Flower Show 

The Chelsea Flower Show is meant to be a picturesque and peaceful experience, taking in the best of gardening and nature – but in 2023 the eco-mob had different plans.

Three women climbed over a rope barrier at around 9am this morning and smothered the RBC Brewin Dolphin Garden, designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes, an award-winning plantsman, with the orange powder made of ‘biodegradable cornstarch’.

The incident, caught on camera, prompted witnesses to shout abuse at the protesters, with one man heard saying: ‘Oh no, oh for god’s, you morons – all you’re doing is ruining them, you prats.’ 

The builder of the £300,000 Chelsea Flower Show garden that was ‘permanently damaged’ by Just Stop Oil zealots who threw the paint.

Award-winning landscaper Gareth Wilson said that the eco-mob had ‘failed to do their homework’ by targeting the sustainable show garden at the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship event.

Stephanie Golder, 35, Naomi Goddard, 58, a retired landscape engineer, and Rosa Hicks, 28, were arrested for criminal damage.

King Charles III Waxwork Figure at Madame Tussaud’s 

The eco-zealots also took aim at a waxwork of none other than His Majesty in October 2022.

The Just Stop Oil had committed a staggering 25 stunts in that month alone before deciding to plow the royal Madame Tussaud’s waxwork with a slice of cake. 

Footage showed two of the activists walking up to the waxwork at the famous London attraction at around 10.50am.

The mob then took off their tops to reveal Just Stop Oil t-shirts as one screamed: ‘This is a time for action’ smearing King Charles’ waxed face with cake – but waxworks of William, Kate and Camilla emerged unscathed.

Horrified onlookers attempt to urge them to stop, however JSO activist Eilidh McFadden began to lecture the crowd about climate change. 

The pair who defaced the wax figure of the king were identified as 20-year-old, Eilidh from Glasgow and Tom Johnson, 29, a painter decorator from Sunderland. 

King Charles III has been a longtime and passionate environmental campaigner, often speaking out about the dangers of global warming.

He had planned to travel to Egypt for Cop27, but has since abandoned plans to do so after it was claimed former prime minister Liz Truss warned him against attending.

The eco-clowns were both found guilty of criminal damage and ordered to pay Merlin Entertainment – who own’s Madame Tussauds – £1,750 in compensation. 

A spokesperson from Just Stop Oil said: ‘The orange cornflour we used to create an eye-catching spectacle on Wednesday has already been blown away, but the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the climate and ecological crisis has not. 

‘Until the next government signs the international Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels and to support dependent economies, workers, and communities to move away from oil, gas and coal, we will continue to come together in civil resistance.’