JUST Stop Oil activists who cost the taxpayer £104,750 by daubing the Treasury with red paint have been spared jail.
A judge told them the protest while cops were occupied by the nearby Changing of the Guard ceremony was reckless.
Despite costing the UK taxpayer over £100,000 to clean up their mess, the judge decided the activists should be spared jailCentral News
GettyThe aftermath of the attack on the Treasury[/caption]
But Judge Nicholas Rimmer also said they were the result of a heartfelt, conscientious conviction.
Handing suspended terms, he said: “I do accept that these actions were shocking rather than violent.
“I am cautiously optimistic.”
Alexia Hall, 39, Selma Heimedinger, 25, Edred Whittingham, 27, and Piers Clifford, 62, glued themselves to fire extinguishers they used to spray paint over the Westminster building.
It took cleaners three visits, each lasting five or six nights, to scrub off the paint.
Hall, Heimedinger and Whittingham were found guilty after trial in January but Clifford admitted criminal damage.
They got suspended terms of 15 to 18 months at Southwark crown court yesterday.
Each has to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and pay £500 compensation.
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