Just Stop Oil supporters who disrupted rugby final cleared of criminal damage

JSO said prosecutors struggled to prove that they intended to cause criminal damage, because they would not have realised how difficult it would be to clean the paint from the specialist pitch

The powder was thrown as Saracens faced Sale Sharks in the final (Mike Egerton/PA)

Two Just Stop Oil supporters who invaded the pitch at Twickenham during a rugby final last year and threw powder paint have been cleared of criminal damage.

Samuel Johnson, 41, and Patrick Hart, 38, who threw orange corn starch powder paint during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby final in May 2023, were acquitted by a jury at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday.