Extinction Rebellion: Protesters fined over Cambridge college lawn damage

Protesters caused criminal damage in the grounds of Trinity College in February

Two "chanting" environmental protesters have been fined for digging up a lawn outside a Cambridge college.

The Extinction Rebellion campaigners were among a group who staged a demonstration outside 16th Century Trinity College on 17 February.

The group had cited the college's "ties with fossil fuel companies" as a reason for the protest.

Gilbert Murray, 62, and 26-year-old Gabriella Ditton, both from Norwich, admitted causing criminal damage.

Prosecutor Philip Botterill told Cambridge Magistrates' Court the group had gone "to the garden lawn at Trinity College, some of them in possession of shovels".

"They're chanting at the time," he said. "Grass is loaded into wheelbarrows, carted to Barclays bank and left there."

He said nobody was arrested on the day but that a number of people were identified later.

Mr Botterill said the cost of repairing the lawn was estimated at £4,365.

The lawn damage came amid a series of Extinction Rebellion protests in Cambridge earlier this year

Ditton also admitted causing criminal damage to a window in a Cambridge research building, run by oilfield service provider Schlumberger, the following day.

District Judge John Woollard ordered both defendants pay £198 compensation to Trinity College - dividing the total cost of the damage by the 22 protesters to reach the figure.

Ditton, who said she earns £100 a month in animation and illustration, told the court: "We're trying to prevent a horrible, horrible future that seems so insurmountable."

She was fined £120 for each offence and ordered to pay £50 towards prosecution costs and a £64 statutory surcharge.

Murray, who is retired, was fined £480 and ordered to pay a £48 surcharge and £85 costs.

Protester Caitlin Fay, 19, of Harleston, Norfolk, also admitted causing criminal damage to the college lawn.

She pleaded guilty to nine counts of assaulting police officers in an unrelated incident on 5 July. Her case was adjourned until next month.

Derek Langley, 64, of Garden Walk, Cambridge, denied causing criminal damage.

He faces a trial on a date to be fixed.