Trenton Going to Jail

Boat race protester Trenton Oldfield was today sentenced to 6 months in prison.

Oldfield, 36, had pleaded not guilty to the crime of causing a public nuisance but lost the trial last month.

Judge Anne Molyneux said at the time that jail was an option, and today followed through with that threat.

Trenton awaiting the sentence this morning.

Trenton, who dove into the Thames in April to protest about elitism, arrived at court this morning with a banner saying “stop criminalising protests”. However, the judge evidently disagreed, with Trenton’s supporters claiming in the verdict she ruled that “no good has ever come of protesting”.

In fact, what Molyneux said was that “no good has ever come of prejudice”, but that did little to placate the angry protesters who swarmed on Twitter to claim injustice.

During sentencing Judge Molyneux continued that Trenton’s protest was both dangerous and disproportionate, as well as prejudiced in it’s attacking of the boatrace, and highlighted that he hadn’t actually shown what he was protesting against during the disruption.

In the sentencing report attention was draw towards the efforts of the lifeguards, crews and police to protecting Oldfield: “It is a fact, upon which you should reflect, that the first thought of all those you came to disrupt was to ensure your safety”, read the judge’s report. It also cited the fact that he pleaded Not Guilty as a reason for his sentence.

Mr Oldfield, educated at a famously posh school in Australia before studying at LSE, had defended his actions in the trial as “making it the most exciting boat race ever”.

He related the elitism he protested about to the boatrace by claiming that ‘It’s a symbol of a lot of issues in Britain around class, 70 per cent of Government pushing through very significant cuts are Oxford or Cambridge graduates.”

However, the prosecution, backed up by Olympian Sir Matthew Pinsent who was part of the umpiring team during the race, claimed he was causing a danger to both himself and the crews.

More to follow