Two Just Stop Oil climate change protesters from Greater Manchester have been spared jail after invading the track at last year’s British Grand Prix.
Louis McKechnie and Joshua Smith were among five campaigners who were dragged off the circuit at Silverstone as two Formula One cars passed close by.
McKechnie, of Manchester, and fellow activists Emily Brocklebank and Bethany Mogie, were given suspended jail sentences at Northampton Crown Court on Friday.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Garnham also handed 12-month community orders to Joshua Smith, of Lees in Oldham, David Baldwin and Alasdair Gibson. Read more: 'His actions left her in shock'....Newlywed downed booze at an 'alarming rate' then caused mayhem on a flight to Manchester Gibson and McKechnie, both 22; Mogie, 40; Baldwin, 47; Brocklebank, 24; and 30-year-old Smith all claimed the protest, which started after a red flag was signalled to halt the race, had followed a “meticulous” safety plan.