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Climate protesters guilty of trespass at Wimbledon

Three people stand on a city street. The man on the left wears glasses, a cap, and blue scarf while holding a white poster with photos and text. The middle man wears a green jacket and cap. The blonde woman on the right wears black clothing.
William Ward, Simon Milner-Edwards and Deborah Wilde were found guilty on Monday

Three Just Stop Oil protesters have been found guilty of storming the Wimbledon tennis courts with confetti and puzzle pieces.

Deborah Wilde, 69, Simon Milner-Edwards, 67, and William Ward, 66, were found guilty of aggravated trespass at City of London Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The trio scaled a barrier and threw the items on the court during the third day of The Championships tournament in July. All three admitted entering the court but denied it amounted to the charge of aggravated trespass.

After the verdict was delivered, deputy district judge Steven Jonas said he "found it a fact" that they were trespassing. He accepted that the three protesters waited for a break in play, but added: "Nevertheless, I find as a fact that each of them intended to cause disruption to the tennis and as a result, they did cause some disruption on that day."

The court was told Wilde and Milner-Edwards entered Court 18 at around 14:10 BST on 5 July last year, during the Grand Slam match between Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov and Japan's Sho Shimabukuro. Bodycam footage played to the court showed them wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts.

An elderly man in dark jacket and beige shorts runs across a grass tennis court, scattering orange and yellow confetti from a container. Spectators watch from green-bannered stands under a curved roof structure. The confetti creates a colorful trail across the pristine court surface.
William Ward on court 18 throwing confetti onto the tennis court

Michelle Dite, operations director at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said Wilde and Milner-Edwards threw "around 1,000" puzzle pieces from a jigsaw that had been purchased at the Wimbledon grounds, as well as confetti. When she arrived, the scene looked "very unsettling" and the players appeared "very frustrated, probably quite intimidated".

Around two hours later, Ward went onto the same court during a match between British player Katie Boulter and Australia's Daria Saville. Ward's protest was met with louder "boos" from the crowd.

Wilde and Ward were each given a six-month conditional discharge, while Milner-Edwards received an 18-month conditional discharge.