SIX Six Just Stop Oil climate change protesters have been spared jail after a track invasion which risked “serious harm” to Formula One drivers and marshals at last year’s British Grand Prix.

Louis McKechnie, originally from Weymouth, who was among five campaigners who were dragged off the circuit at Silverstone as two Formula One cars passed close by, was given a suspended jail sentence at Northampton Crown Court on Friday.

Emily Brocklebank and Bethany Mogie also received suspended sentences, while Mr Justice Garnham handed 12-month community orders to David Baldwin, Alasdair Gibson and Joshua Smith.

Gibson and McKechnie, both 22; Mogie, 40; Baldwin, 47; Brocklebank, 24; and 30-year-old Smith all claimed the protest, which started after a red flag was signalled to halt the race, had followed a “meticulous” safety plan.

But they were found guilty of causing what the Crown said was “an immediate risk of serious harm” by sitting “in the face” of fast-moving vehicles.

Brocklebank, of Yeadon, Leeds; Gibson, from Aberdeen; Mogie, from St Albans; McKechnie, from Manchester; and Smith, from Lees in Oldham, went on to the race circuit during the protest.

Baldwin, of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, was found in a car park along with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner and was said by the Crown to have been “in it together” with his co-defendants.

McKechnie and Brocklebank – who have a joint previous conviction for gluing themselves to the frame of a £70 million Van Gogh painting days before the F1 protest – were given suspended prison sentences of 12 months and six months respectively, both suspended for two years.

Mogie, a mother of four, was given a six-month sentence of imprisonment, also suspended for two years.

During the sentencing, Mr Justice Garnham told the six campaigners: “I accept that the motive for all of you was not to cause harm but instead to voice your concerns about climate change.

“None of you have committed any offence since the commission of this offence.”

The judge added that the “reckless” track invasion had been carefully planned, was a deliberate breach of the law and had been carried out despite warnings about the danger of going on to the circuit.

Video footage from various camera angles covering Silverstone was played at the activists’ trial, as well as personal video statements from five of the defendants recorded a day before the protest, including a claim that the world is “being destroyed for the benefit of a few people”.

McKechnie, who grew up in Weymouth in Dorset, told jurors the group had planned the action over two-and-a-half months, making it as safe as possible.

He was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Brocklebank and Mogie received six-month sentences, suspended for two years.