Four climate protesters who targeted the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill have each pleaded guilty to attempted trespass and attempted unlawful damage over the incident, which was filmed by an ABC crew.
Jesse Noakes, 36, Gerard Mazza, 33, Matilda Lane-Rose, 20, and Emil Davey, 24, arrived at O’Neill’s western suburbs home at 6.45am on August 1, 2023, intending to throw paint at the house and chain themselves to a gate to prevent O’Neill from being able to leave.
Joanna Partyka, Gerard Mazza, Matilda Rose, Emil Davey and Tahlia Stolarski outside Perth Magistrates Court following the hearing on Tuesday.Credit: Jesinta Burton
But the protest over the company’s mega-project in the state’s north was foiled by WA Police who were lying in wait, intervening after the group arrived and arresting them as an ABC documentary crew’s cameras rolled.
The incident was labelled “extreme” by O’Neill, who went on to take a violence restraining order out against the four charged people, who were all members of the Disrupt Burrup Hub activist group.
ABC’s flagship investigative program, Four Corners, was also lashed for its involvement in the incident, and was ordered by WA Police to hand over its raw vision.
On Tuesday, the group of four had the more serious charge against them – conspiracy to comment an indictable offence – dropped.
They then all pleaded guilty to attempted trespass and attempted unlawful damage.
They will be sentenced next month.
Meanwhile, fellow protesters Tahlia Stolarski and Joanna Partyka have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges laid over the same incident — despite not actually participating in the City Beach protest.
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