Audrey Cherryl Morgan and Gerard Pitt of the Garden Court Protest Rights Team were instructed by Francesca Cociani of Hodge, Jones and Allen Solicitors.
The three defendants were represented by Audrey Cherryl Mogan and Gerard Pitt of Garden Court Chambers and Francesca Cociani of Hodge, Jones and Allen Solicitors.
The trial, held at Salisbury Crown Court, concerned an action in June 2024. The defendants used ‘colour blasters’ often used during the Hindu ceremony of Holi filled with orange powder to spray the prehistoric monument in order to highlight the climate emergency.
The defendants were charged with causing criminal damage to a protected monument and recklessly causing a public nuisance under the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 which sparked the ‘Kill the Bill’ protests in 2022.
After two days of detailed legal argument, the decision of whether a conviction would be a disproportionate interference with a defendant’s rights under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights – namely the right to protest about government inaction on the climate crisis – was left for the jury to decide.
After the acquittals the Judge thanked the jury and remarked, “This was an important decision for the issues about the right to protest […] It’s people from the community chosen at random who should decide if someone has committed that offence or not. There’s 12 of you, each of you brings something completely different to the decision-making process so we have a good cross-section of society.”
The protest received extensive media coverage both at the time and during the trial.
The verdict has been widely reported in national and international media, including The Guardian, The Times, The Art Newspaper, and ARTnews.
Audrey and Gerard are regularly instructed in high-profile protest and civil liberties cases.
To instruct them, please contact the Garden Court Crime Team clerks.
