Ryanair claim against Plane Stupid protesters

22 protesters charged after they caused Stansted Airport to close on the morning of December 8th, have now been sentenced.

The group appeared at the Harlow Magistrate's Court and all pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated tresspassing.

Overall, eighteen were ordered to do between 90 and 50 hours of community service, another two were ordered to pay fines of £130 and £160, another one was given a referral order and the final one was given a conditional discharge.

The sentences came after the protesters broke into the airport, causing over £3000 worth of damage in the process, and then chaining themselves to fences, causing the airport to close for 5 hours. During that closedown, 57 Ryanair flights were cancelled, leaving 7000 people without a flight, and a further 52,000 passengers delayed.

However, due to all the delays and cancels, Ryanair is claiming £2.2 million in compensation for loss of revenue.

The protest was organised by the Stupid Plane group who planned the protest in an attempt to highlight the effect of aviation on the environment.

One protester who was sentenced at Harlow Magistrates' Court, Joe Ryle, a sixth-form student, said: "It's pretty scary what's happening now. Most of us haven't got any money and a fair few of us are at school and the ones at university already have big debts."

"It seems if Ryanair follows this through and wins, we'll be paying money to Michael O'Leary for decades, and all because we think our parent's generation failed us so we decided to actually do something about climate change."

In my opinion, good for Ryanair, for a company that is always lowering prices for it's customers, why should they have to lose out if a group of protesters, which sound like a bunch of College and University kids can't understand the consequences of breaking the law, Ryanair should explore every avenue open to them so that they can claim their money back.

Overall, the police charged 49 protesters with tresspassing and released 7 on bail. Eight of the 49 were in court last month and another 24 are due in court later this month.

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