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Two Just Stop Oil activists who planned to spray Taylor Swift's private jet with paint have been spared prison. Jennifer Kowalski, 29, and Cole Macdonald, 23, breached the perimeter fence at Stansted Airport in Essex with an angle grinder then took turns spraying two planes with orange paint from a fire extinguisher and filming it on June 20 last year. The eco zealots had been targeting the pop star's jet but the aircraft they vandalised actually belonged to an insurance firm and an investment group. Kowalski, of Dumbarton in Scotland and Macdonald, of Brighton, East Sussex, argued they had not intended to damage the two aircraft but both were found guilty of criminal damage at Chelmsford Crown Court in September. At the same court today, prosecutor David Barr said the cost of cleaning the two aircraft was £12,576, and that a further £24,000 was spent on inspection by engineers who selected specific chemicals to remove the paint. Repairs to the perimeter fence also cost £19,234, though the pair did not face a further charge of criminal damage over this. Kowalski, who had previous convictions over protests in Scotland, was sentenced to five months in prison suspended for 12 months. Macdonald was sentenced to six weeks in prison suspended for eight months. Judge Alexander Mills said Kowalski's actions were 'affected by your neurodivergence' and noted that Macdonald was autistic. He also told them that the only reason they switched their target from Ms Swift's jet to the other two planes was because they 'had been spotted'. When sentencing, Mr Mills told how an aircraft refueller recalled how he honked the horn of his vehicle and that he 'described you seemingly being triggered into action'. He said: 'The actions of the two of you were all about publicity - both for Just Stop Oil and for yourselves.' Mr Mills continued: 'What greater publicity could there be than anything related to Taylor Swift. That's what you hoped to achieve.' The pair, who each brought a large bag to court in case they received jail time, hugged in the dock after the judge passed suspended sentences. Kowalski must complete up to 30 programme requirement days during her suspended sentence order and was fined £480. Macdonald must complete up to 20 days of a rehabilitation activity. Both defendants were excluded from Stansted Airport, unless with a valid ticket to travel, for the duration of their suspended sentence orders. Laura O'Brien, for Kowalski, said she had a 'conscientious motive' and the protest was 'intended to have a minimal impact on the public'. 'This wasn't about grounding commercial flights, this wasn't about stopping people going on holidays, it was about taking a message to a symbol of the climate crisis,' she said. Rebecca Martin, for Macdonald, said that 'any activism she takes part in in future she intends to be entirely lawful'. She said that Macdonald's 11 days in custody after her arrest and on a curfew after bail had been 'very salutary'. A group of supporters waited outside the court building during the sentencing hearing, having been refused access by security staff. Ms O'Brien, for Kowalski, urged the judge to relax a restriction that 'only immediate family or partners are to be permitted' to come inside, and said a family friend had travelled from the Isle of Wight to show support. But the judge said the restriction had 'come from the resident judge in light of the intentions of those who may be entering the building today'. He said he was 'not prepared to depart from it (the restriction)'.
