'Stansted 15' surrounded deportation plane
- Published
Planes flying into Stansted had to be diverted to other airports, Chelmsford Crown Court heard
Protesters cut through Stansted Airport's perimeter fence and secured themselves around a deportation plane preparing for take-off, a court heard.
The jet had been chartered by the Home Office to take people from UK detention centres to Africa on 28 March 2017.
The so-called Stansted 15 put their arms inside pipes and filled them with expandable foam, jurors were told.
"They placed the safety of the airport in a likelihood of danger," prosecutor Tony Badenoch said.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports.
The 15 protestors are said to have secured themselves around the nose wheel and wing of the Boeing 767, which was due to transport people for repatriation to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
'Astonishing speed'
Mr Badenoch said the defendants cut a 3ft by 3ft (1m by 1m) hole in the perimeter fence.
Five sets of bolt cutters and gloves were later found nearby, although it was not known which defendants cut the hole, he said.
"It's something they did with quite astonishing speed," said Mr Badenoch.
The pilot saw the group approaching and closed the plane's doors before calling security, the court heard.
"Once these defendants had broken into the airport, the airport activities were suspended," said Mr Badenoch.
"They placed the safety of the airport in a likelihood of danger."
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to a single charge of intentional disruption of services at an aerodrome.
They are: Helen Brewer, 28, of Ferne Park Road, London; Lyndsay Burtonshaw, 28, of Upper Lewes Road, Brighton; Nathan Clack, 30, of Ferne Park Road, London; Laura Clayson, 28, of Brownswood Road, London; Melanie Evans, 35, of Vicarage Road, London; Joseph McGahan, 35, of Path Hill Farm, Reading; Benjamin Smoke, 27, of Rowley Gardens, London; Jyotsna Ram, 33, of Brownswood Road, London; Nicholas Sigsworth, 29, of Ferne Park Road, London; Melanie Strickland, 35, of Borwick Avenue, London; Alistair Tamlit, 30, of Brownswood Road, London; Edward Thacker, 29, of Ferne Park Road, London; Emma Hughes, 38, of Vicarage Road, London; May McKeith, 33, of Vicarage Road, London and Ruth Potts, 44, of Ashton Gate Terrace, Bristol.
The trial continues.