Climate Activists Rally Outside Court As Protester Faces Jail For Oxford Landmark Paint Attack

Activists from Defend Our Juries staged a protest outside Oxford Crown Court after Daniel Knorr was found guilty of criminal damage over a paint attack on the Radcliffe Camera in October 2023.

Protesters held placards declaring, “Jurors have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to their conscious.” Inside the courtroom, Judge Gledhill directed jurors to ignore the demonstration, saying that while peaceful protest was a fundamental democratic right, he did not want the jury to be influenced by it.

Knorr, then a 21-year-old biochemistry student at Oxford University, and Noah Crane, then 18, used fire extinguishers to spray water-based paint on the historic building. They were protesting against new oil and gas licensing, about three weeks after the government approved the Rosebank project in the North Sea.

Both men faced charges of criminal damage, valued at £2,984.83, and possessing articles intended to damage property. Crane pleaded guilty before the trial, while Knorr denied the offences and was found guilty of both counts by unanimous jury verdicts on September 24.

Knorr received a 20-week prison sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £4,380 in costs. Crane received a 16-week prison sentence, also suspended for two years, and must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,630 in costs.

Defend Our Juries campaigns to protect jury trials and promote the principle it calls “jury equity,” under which jurors may acquit defendants according to their conscience.