Just Stop Oil: Protesters who interrupted Les Misérables West End show found guilty of aggravated trespass

Five Just Stop Oil protesters who cut short a West End performance of Les Misérables by rushing the stage have been found guilty of aggravated trespass.

Hannah Taylor, 23, Lydia Gribbin, 28, Hanan Ameur, 22, Noah Crane, 18, and Poppy Bliss, 19, all initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but were convicted on Friday (19 April) following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Gribbin and Crane were also convicted of criminal damage, caused when they climbed onto the Sondheim Theatre’s orchestra pit netting, designed to protect the musicians below from objects falling off the stage.

The performance - on 4 October last year - came to an abrupt halt at about 9pm when the demonstrators left their seats and took to the stage, as the cast sang 'Do You Hear The People Sing?' Cell phone footage of the incident showed crew members clearing the stage as the curtains were lowered, while an “angry” audience of around 1,000 theatregoers booed the protesters. One snatched one of their signature orange banners from their hands, while others could be heard calling out, “how dare you”.

Several of the protesters locked themselves to the set with bike locks for roughly an hour, and the rest of the show was called off. The estimated cost to the theatre of cancelling the performance was £60,000, PA reports, while £2,000 of structural damage was caused to the pit netting - although this was covered by insurance. Giving evidence, Gribbin said she did not intend to cause any damage, and had believed the netting would be safe to stand on.

Theatre manager Daniel Lewis told the court the audience had been angry at the disturbance. “I heard frustration, I heard anger, I heard swearing... The audience were singing to try and drown out the sound of the protest.”

Les Misérables company manager Matt Byham added that a child actor had been on stage at the time of the protest. In a written statement read to the court, he said: “I was angry they had done this while a child actor was on stage.”

At the time of the protest, protester Hannah Taylor said in a statement: "The show starts with Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving child. How long before we are all forced to steal loaves of bread? How long before there are riots on the streets? The show cannot go on."

Emissions created by new oil and gas projects - like the recently-approved Rosebank oil field - meant crop failure, starvation and death, she continued. "Am I not, like Jean Valjean, justified in breaking the law to oppose this criminal government and its murderous policies? Ask yourself, will you, like the citizens of Paris in the play, stand by and watch, or will you stand up against our governments' criminal plans and call for an end to new oil and gas?"

All five protesters will reappear at a later date for sentencing.