‘Just stop the oil’ protesters who stormed the British Grand Prix track escape jail time

Six climate change activists who stormed the track of last year’s Formula One British Grand Prix in one of a series of destructive protests against fossil fuels were not jailed on Friday.

Five activists had to be dragged off the road as cars drove by during the July protest on behalf of the group. Just stop the oilwho staged a series of protests blocking the main thoroughfare and targeting priceless works of art with stunts designed to draw public attention.

Protesters ran onto the Silverstone circuit after a first lap crash resulted in a red flag, slowing traffic.

ACTIVISTS VANDALIZE ‘BRAVELHEART’ MONUMENT IN SCOTLAND IN CLIMATE PROTEST

“It was not trespass or obstruction or criminal damage – to put it simply, it was from another league,” Judge Neil Garnam told protesters at Northampton Crown Court.

The group wants to UK government stop new oil and gas projects.

Three protesters were given suspended prison terms and three were sentenced to a year of community service.

Six Just Stop Oil protesters have been spared jail time by a British court for a stunt performed at the 2022 Commonwealth Grand Prix. (Fox News)

Two protesters on probation, 22-year-old Louis McKechnie and 24-year-old Emily Brocklebank, were convicted of sticking themselves to the frame of a £70 million Vincent van Gogh painting days before the speedway protest.

The judge said that the protest at the race track created a risk of injury or death, although he understood that they did not intend to cause harm, but rather drew attention to climate change.

JUST STOP OIL OPENS THE DOOR FOR BIG EXTREME PROTESTS INCLUDING FAMOUS ARTS ‘BREAKING’

“I knew I was safe where I was on the track. I understood that where I am, everything will be in order, ”McKechnie testified. “These riders are the best riders in the world. They wouldn’t even flinch at something like that.”

The anti-oil group also splattered tomato soup on the glass covering a Van Gogh painting in London’s National Gallery and glued it to the frame of a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Similar protests were held in other European cities: participants stuck to Johann Vermeer’s painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in The Hague and threw mashed potatoes on a painting by Claude Monet in German Museum.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Just Stop Oil is backed by the US-based Climate Emergency Fund, which supports youth’s devastating environmental protests.