A man from Weymouth has been charged following reports that a man ran on to the pitch at the Everton v Newcastle United Premier League fixture at Goodison last night (Thursday 17 March).
At around 8.55pm it was reported that a man disrupted the match by running on to the pitch and tying himself to the goal post at the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End.
Louis McKechnie, 21, from , Weymouth, was charged with Pitch Encroachment and Aggravated Trespass and is due to attend Liverpool Community Justice Court on Tuesday April 19.
He has been bailed and is banned from attending any venue being used for a regulated football match in England and Wales, any sporting venues being used for a televised event in England and Wales and any venues being used for a televised event in England and Wales.
Earlier the Echo reported how a Just Stop Oil activist from Dorset disrupted a football match between Everton and Newcastle United by tying himself to a goalpost.
Former Budmouth pupil Louis McKechnie told of how he staged a Just Stop Oil protest during yesterday's Premier League match by running onto the pitch and cable-tying his neck to the goal.
The ex-Weymouth resident - now understood to live in Bournemouth - is calling for urgent action on the cost of living crisis, housing crisis and climate change - and says his generation 'is being shafted.'
He and Just Stop Oil are calling for the Government to end new fossil fuel supply projects.
Louis, 21, locked on to the goalpost at Goodison Park wearing a Just Stop Oil t-shirt, causing the referee to stop play for around six minutes.
The match had to be stopped while security attempted to remove him. He was eventually cut free using a pair of bolt cutters and was led from the ground, to boos from the crowd, by police.
The Government took out a high court injunction against the protests, which he and others broke by taking part in an action at junction 25 of the motorway during the morning rush hour on October 8.
Some of the group glued themselves to each other and two glued themselves to the road. Louis was sentenced to three months.
Another Weymouth local, scientist Emma Smart, was also jailed - she was sentenced to four months after taking part in the same protest.
Ms Smart went on hunger strike for 26 days whilst incarcerated at HMP Bronzefield and was freed at the beginning of this year.
Why did Louis McKechnie tie himself to the goal?
Following yesterday's protest Louis said: “It’s 2022 and it’s time to look up, time to step up and not stand by. It’s time to act like it’s an emergency.
“Report after report is telling me that my future is going to be dire, and my government is telling me not to worry and pay into a pension.
“My generation is being shafted — we face a cost of living crisis, a housing crisis, a fuel crisis and an unlivable planet — but we have a choice. We can choose to highlight that our climate is breaking down, we can choose to resist this government that is betraying us, we can choose to step up and not stand by.”
Watch Louis explain why he tied himself to the goal
Who are Just Stop Oil?
Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups taking direct action to demand that the government immediately halts all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.
Football fans may already know that the game is at risk due to the climate crisis as hundreds of sports facilities are wrecked by extreme weather and flooding — posing an existential threat for some smaller clubs.
Find out more at juststopoil.org
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