Gatwick latest airport to secure injunction against activists amid protest fear
A number of airports have been granted court orders in recent weeks to prevent protesters trespassing on their land.
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Gatwick has become the latest major airport to secure a High Court injunction to stop would-be environmental activists trespassing on its land after receiving police intelligence over protest plans in London next week.
At a hearing on Friday, lawyers for the airport – the second largest in the UK – urgently sought the court’s protection over the “real and imminent risk of blockading, obstruction (and) disruption” at its site near Crawley, West Sussex.
Timothy Morshead KC, representing Gatwick, said it had been informed by the Metropolitan Police that campaign group Just Stop Oil (JSO) was planning a protest in London on July 27.
Heathrow, London City, Stansted, Luton, Manchester, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle International airports have all obtained court injunctions against activists in recent weeks.
Mr Morshead said London City Airport was due to be targeted by protesters but plans had changed after its bosses secured the injunction.
The barrister said Gatwick was “the last major airport” not to be similarly covered by an order which left it “singularly exposed” to protesters who might “scan to see which airport was not protected by an injunction and target that”.
There was no evidence of a “specific threat” against Gatwick, Mr Morshead said, but added that the “impossibility of judging how events will unfold is one of the reasons for acting on a precautionary basis”.
The hearing in London came the day after five JSO protesters were jailed for several years for conspiring to organise protests that blocked the M25 motorway in November 2022, receiving sentences thought to be the longest ever given for peaceful protest.
Mr Morshead it was not known what “deterrent effect” the five-year sentence handed to JSO co-founder Roger Hallam at Southwark Crown Court would have.
He said Mr Hallam’s sentence was “certainly relevant” with environmental protest being a topic which is “at the forefront of the news agenda”.
“The publicity attached to the protest movement by that conviction may stimulate activity,” Mr Morshead added.
The raft of injunction bids by airports comes weeks after two JSO activists were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after appearing to spray orange paint over private jets at Stansted Airport – with one jet parked in the airfield thought to belong to singer Taylor Swift.
In written arguments, Mr Morshead said JSO had “explicitly threatened a campaign of protest at the UK’s airports”.
He said a “blueprint” for plans had involved cutting fences, people gluing themselves to runways and activists climbing onto planes to prevent their departure as part of their opposition to the use of fossil fuels at airports.
Gatwick was a “natural target” for such action which could cause “severe disruption and financial loss” and “significant delays for passengers”, Mr Morshead said.
Mr Justice Ritchie granted the injunction against “persons unknown” connected to JSO or other environmental campaigns.
He said it was “appropriate” to protect Gatwick against protests “which may cause, death, injury or chaos”.
The injunction will be reviewed after 12 months.