
A judge has hit out at a Just Stop Oil protester who asked for her trial on charges of disrupting a performance of Les Miserables to be delayed for a few weeks – so she could jet off to India.
Lydia Gribbin, 28, appeared in court on Friday November 3 alongside four other activists charged with aggravated trespass – a charge that she denies alongside Hannah Taylor, 23; Hanan Ameur, 22; Noah Crane, 18; and Poppy Bliss, 19.
Gribbin, however, sparked a particularly strong reaction from district Judge Michael Snow at Westminster Magistrate’s Court after asking if the trial could be held at the end of February – so she could travel to India unimpeded.
Judge Snow told the activist: ‘I am afraid I am not going to wait for you to get back from India. If you have to miss out on things, you have to miss out on things.’
Four of the five activists have been banned from entering the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden after they allegedly stormed the stage at the Sondheim Theatre on October 5, reportedly costing show bosses £80,000.
Lydia Gribbin, 28, sought to have the trial delayed to the end of February so she could travel to India – a request denied by the judge at Westminster Magistrate’s Court
Just Stop Oil activists Noah Crane, Hannah Taylor, Hanan Ameur, Poppy Bliss and Lydia Gribbin have all denied a charge of aggravated trespass during the Les Miserables performance
The activists are seen leaving Westminster Magistrate’s Court after making their first appearance on Friday November 3
The quintet embraced outside court after denying the charge of aggravated trespass; trial was set for February 5 next year
The activists allegedly bounded onto the stage during iconic number Do You Hear The People Sing? – a call to arms for the story’s French revolutionaries, who went on to take part in a failed insurrection against the monarchy.
The performance at the Sondheim Theatre was brought to a halt at about 9pm on October 5, Westminster Magistrate’s Court heard.
Activists were arrested by the Metropolitan Police when the show was cut short after it was disrupted in the first act.
READ MORE: Just Stop Oil deploy latest ‘die in’ tactic as they bring chaos to the streets of east London during rush hour slow march
Judge Snow said that the estimated direct cost to the theatre was £80,000 in refunded tickets – though he added that the true cost to theatregoers themselves would have been much higher once travel costs were accounted for.
He warned that they could be liable to pay the full amount if they are found guilty.
Taylor, Gribbin, Ameur, Crane and Bliss have each accepted that they were at the musical, with all but Ameur banned from nearby boroughs because she works at a restaurant in Leicester Square.
During the group’s first appearance in court the clerk reprimanded one of the defendants for chewing gum, and asked someone to get her a tissue to spit out.
The judge went on to rubbish the two defences that they planned to use at trial, going so far as to ban them from using one.
The quintet, who did not take any legal advice, said they would argue the theatre ‘reasonably consented’ to having them protest.
Judge Snow warned them against using the defence because there was direct evidence to the contrary.
They also announced they would use the defence of ‘proportionality’, which would invoke their Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act – freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association.
However, the judge forbade them from doing so, telling them: ‘As a matter of law you can’t put forward proportionality unless there is a reasonable excuse and there is none.
‘If the charge that you face had a proportionality defence or reasonable excuse in it, then you could use it. Unless you think I have got the law wrong, but I haven’t.’
Addressing the defence that they had ‘reasonable consent’ from the theatre, he said: ‘You’re going to have to establish that someone gave you permission to stand on stage and protest.
‘You’re going to have to provide evidence and witnesses for that. But it is very unlikely that you have got that.’
He went on forewarn them against using the argument of necessity on the grounds that the climate crisis is not immediate enough.
He said: ‘I’m not going to allow you to put forward a defence of necessity. Whatever the risks or dangers are because of climate change, that [defence] fails because of the immediacy requirement.
‘If there was a bomb that was about to blow up outside the court right now, then of course you could break into the that building and turn off the gas because there is an immediate risk.’
Just Stop Oil protesters who disrupted a performance of Les Miserables last month could have to pay the £80,000 cost of cancelling the show
Two of the Just Stop Oil protesters who stormed the stage were called Hanan (left) – a 22-year-old student – and Noah, 18 (right)
She added: ‘Les Mis is about the June rebellion where ordinary people stood up, organised themselves against a government that consistently showed no interest in their wellbeing’
The statement issued by William Village, chief executive of Delfont Mackintosh Theatres – which owns the Sondheim Theatre, saying that patrons would be refunded for the unfinished performance
The crowd booed and jeered as eco-activists clambered onto the stage holding the group’s orange banner at the Sondheim Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue
An apparently angry audience member pointed and scolded the demonstrators after the show was cancelled
None of the activists were represented in court, and turned down meeting a duty solicitor – meaning they had not seen the evidence against them despite the charges carrying potential custodial sentences.
Wearing a blue puffer jacket, Crane responded to District Judge Michael Snow’s offer of a duty solicitor with: ‘I’m alright.’
Judge Snow said: ‘None of you are represented. Are you certain you don’t want a lawyer? Are you aware that the maximum sentence is three months imprisonment?’
Gribbin, Crane, Ameur and Bliss each had their charges of locking on to one another using cable ties dropped.
The five protesters will next appear for trial at City of London Magistrate’s Court on February 5 of next year.
Theatregoers were told to leave the auditorium on October 5 after the venue’s ‘safety protocols’ were activated when protesters occupied the stage during the famous song ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’.
Video footage captured the moment the song stopped abruptly and a furious audience booing the demonstrators.
All patrons were offered a full refund for the unfinished performance, which the theatre’s owner, Delfont Mackintosh, said there was insufficient time to resume.
Just Stop Oil told MailOnline at the time: ‘This summer has shown us the sheer power of a supercharged climate.
‘Scientists are freaking out and even the Pope is sounding the alarm. But, like the citizens of Paris in 1832, we have locked our doors, while our young face slaughter on the streets.
‘They will inherit a scorched earth, unfit to live in and we will be long gone. We cannot let this stand. The show cannot go on.’