Stonehenge protester tells court: I don’t think I come across as dangerous

A 74-year-old Just Stop Oil supporter accused of spraying Stonehenge with orange powder told a court he does not think he comes across as a “dangerous or threatening person”.

Rajan Naidu and Oxford University student Niamh Lynch, 22, are accused of using two fire extinguishers filled with cornflour, talc and an orange dye to spray the monument on June 19 last year.

Their trial at Salisbury Crown Court was told the pair, together with Luke Watson, 36, targeted Stonehenge as part of an ongoing fossil fuel protest by the Just Stop Oil group.

The three defendants each deny charges of damaging an ancient protected monument and causing a public nuisance.

On Thursday, Naidu began giving evidence during which he said the group had “no intention to do anything reckless or harmful in any sense” to the “sacred” monument which was “one of the wonders of the world”.

The jury was shown a photograph allegedly of Naidu and Lynch sitting in front of the stones with an orange substance visible on the monument.

Of this image, he said it was to demonstrate there was “no need to panic” and that what the group was doing was “entirely peaceful”.

He added: “I don’t think I come across as a dangerous or threatening person, and I don’t think Niamh comes across as a dangerous or threatening person.”

Of the imagery shown to court, Naidu said: “I don’t think I scare people, I don’t think Niamh scares people and you can see in the way that we behave, there’s nothing in that that’s scary.”

Asked by prosecutor Simon Jones whether he thought direct action was necessary, the defendant said: “I felt it was, yes, because we’ve taken the actions which we’d talked about: the lobbying; we’ve had demonstrations; we’ve had marches; but still Government policy hasn’t changed.”

“We are still on a highway to hell,” he added.

Naidu said it was “vital” the group got their message across as the planet is in “a climate and ecological crisis”.

The protester said that during the planning process for the demonstration, he initially had concerns about whether the pre-made orange powder was safe and had researched the brand.

Naidu added: “I checked the company, it is used in ceremonies and people throw it over one another and it is cleanable.”

He accepted that prosecution’s assertion that the stunt had been planned for the day before the solstice in order to attract the “maximum attention”.

The court was shown video footage where Lynch and Naidu can allegedly be seen spraying the orange substance over the monument before two individuals attempt to intervene and drag them away.

Mr Jones previously told the jury that Stonehenge is “arguably the best recognised and architecturally sophisticated, prehistoric stone circle in the world” and that it was built some 5,000 years ago.

The court heard that both Naidu and Lynch crossed the boundary ropes and trespassed into the area around the monument before launching the attack.

Watson had left north-west London that morning and driven to the Oxfordshire area in a Ford Fiesta and, later, all three were seen on CCTV arriving at the monument together, the jury was told.

The pair, who were both wearing white Just Stop Oil T-shirts, were arrested and forensic examination of one of the fire extinguishers provided a DNA link to Watson, the court was told.

The incident happened the day before the summer solstice when about 15,000 people were due to gather and celebrate.

Mr Jones told the court there were concerns that if the substance got wet it could become a paste and that there was a “pressing need” to clean the stones ahead of the solstice event.

The cost of cleaning the stones was £620, he added.

Naidu, of Gosford Street, Birmingham; Lynch, of Norfolk Road, Turvey, Bedford; and Watson, of The Street, Manuden, Essex; all deny charges of damaging an ancient protected monument and causing a public nuisance.

The trial continues.