Just Stop Oil spray paint private jets at private airfield ‘hours after Taylor Swift’s plane lands’

At 5am on Thursday morning (June 20), two supporters entered the private airfield at Stansted airport and painted two private jets using fire extinguishers filled with orange paint.

Essex Police said two women, aged 22 and 28, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and interference with the use or operation of national infrastructure.

Officers were called at 5.10am this morning to reports of two people who had gained access to an area well away from the runway and main passenger terminal, before causing damage to two aircraft, a spokesperson said.

“Officers were on the scene within minutes and detained two people,” the statement read.

“The airport and flights are operating as normal.

“A 22-year-old woman from Brighton, and a 28-year-old woman from Dumbarton, have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and interference with the use or operation of national infrastructure.”

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Just Stop Oil said Cole Macdonald, 22, and Jennifer Kowalski, 28, broke into the private airfield demanding that the incoming UK government work to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

The pair used an angle grinder to break into the fenced off area before coating the planes in orange paint.

Miss McDonald said: “We’re living in two worlds: one where billionaires live in luxury, able to fly in private jets away from the other, where unlivable conditions are being imposed on countless millions. 

“Meanwhile, this system that is allowing extreme wealth to be accrued by a few, to the detriment of everyone else, is destroying the conditions necessary to support human life in a rapidly accelerating never-ending ‘cruel summer’. Billionaires are not untouchable, climate breakdown will affect every single one of us.”

On Wednesday two Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested on suspicion of damaging some of the stones at Stonehenge.

Video footage showed the pair running towards the 5,000-year-old structure, spraying it with paint from fire extinguishers.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said they had arrested two people following the incident. “At around noon, we responded to a report that orange paint had been sprayed on some of the stones by two suspects. Officers attended the scene and arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument. Our inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage,” the force added.

A spokeswoman for English Heritage told PA the incident was “extremely upsetting”. “Orange powdered paint has been thrown at a number of the stones at Stonehenge. Obviously, this is extremely upsetting and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage,” she continued. Stonehenge remained open to the public for now.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “Whilst governments are allowing oil corporations to run amok destroying our communities, the actions of individuals mean very little.

“That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.

“Failure to defend the people they represent will mean Just Stop Oil supporters, along with citizens from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland will join in resistance this summer, if their own Governments do not take meaningful action.”