Pair who targeted Taylor Swift's jet spared jail

Taylor Swift's jet was at Stansted Airport when the two activists tried to spray it with paint

Two Just Stop Oil activists who sought to spray orange paint on Taylor Swift's private jet have been spared jail.

Jennifer Kowalski, 29, from Dumbarton, and Cole Macdonald, 23, from Brighton, were hoping to paint the pop star's jet at Stansted Airport, but instead sprayed planes belonging to an insurance firm and an investment group.

The pair - found guilty of criminal damage at an earlier trial - hugged in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court after they were both given suspended prison sentences.

Judge Alexander Mills said their aim was publicity, both for Just Stop Oil and themselves, adding: "What greater publicity could there be than anything related to Taylor Swift?"

Jennifer Kowalski, 29, (left) and Cole MacDonald, 23, (right) switched to different planes after being spotted, said the judge

Their trial had heard how they got through a fence at the Essex airport on 20 July 2024 with an angle grinder, before taking turns spraying the planes and filming it.

The judge said: "I've no doubt the reason you switched to the other jets was because you had been spotted."

He said an aircraft refueller described how he honked the horn of his vehicle and "described you seemingly being triggered into action".

The pair got through a fence at Stansted Airport using an angle grinder, before taking turns spraying the planes, which they filmed

Kowalski who had previous convictions over protests in Scotland, was sentenced to five months in prison suspended for 12 months. She was also fined £480.

Macdonald was given six weeks in prison suspended for eight months.

Both have been excluded from Stansted Airport, unless they have a valid ticket to travel, for the duration of their suspended sentence orders.

The judge said Kowalski's actions were "affected by your neurodivergence", and also noted Macdonald's autism diagnosis.

Laura O'Brien, for Kowalski, said Kowalski had a "conscientious motive" and the protest - in an area of the airport for private aviation - was "intended to have a minimal impact on the public".

"This wasn't about grounding commercial flights, this wasn't about stopping people going on holidays, it was about taking a message to a symbol of the climate crisis," she said.

Rebecca Martin, for Macdonald, said that "any activism she takes part in in future she intends to be entirely lawful".

She said that Macdonald's 11 days in custody after her arrest and on a curfew after bail had been "very salutary".

David Barr, prosecuting, said invoices showed the direct cost of cleaning the two aircraft was £12,576.

He said a further £24,000 was spent on consultation and inspection by engineers who selected the right chemical to use to remove the substance.

Repairs to the perimeter fence cost £19,234, he said, though the defendants did not face a further charge of criminal damage over this.

A group of supporters waited outside the court building during the sentencing hearing, having been refused access by security staff.

Ms O'Brien, for Kowalski, urged the judge to relax a restriction that "only immediate family or partners are to be permitted" to come inside, and said a family friend had travelled from the Isle of Wight to show support.

But the judge said the restriction had "come from the resident judge in light of the intentions of those who may be entering the building today".

He said he was "not prepared to depart from it [the restriction]".