Two men who defaced a Heathrow Airport billboard proclaiming the economic benefits of a third runway were allowed to walk free form court after being found guilty in court.

Joseph McGahan, 29, and Lawrence Rose, 32, were convicted by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court of three counts of destroying or damaging property worth £5,000 or less, and one count of having articles with intent to damage or destroy property.

They were handed 12-month conditional discharges, with Rose, from Cookham in Maidenhead, told to pay £1,615 and his co-defendant, of no fixed address, £1,040.

The pair had entered not guilty pleas using the statutory defence of ‘lawful excuse’, represented themselves in the trial that began on Monday (June 13).

According to Nic Ferriday, from West London Friends of the Earth, the men targeted billboards on the perimeter road running around the airport. They changed one poster which read “Those living around us are behind us” to “Those living around us are choking”.

Afterwards, McGahan said: “We attempted to alter Heathrow’s fraudulent billboards in order to portray a more accurate reality of the harm and misery Heathrow’s expansion will bring to local residents and the environment.

“A 2012 study published in Atmospheric Environment found that fifty early deaths a year can be attributed to air pollution from Heathrow.

"This would treble by 2030 if a third runway is built. Residents suffering the loudest aircraft noise from Heathrow also have 10% more strokes and heart disease, a 2013 British Medical Journal paper studying 3.6 million people revealed.

“The ‘subvertising’ was necessary to prevent greater climate crimes. Aviation is the fastest-rising source of UK emissions amid a climate crisis.”

'Real crime was to challenge Heathrow'

Mr Ferriday was not surprised with the guilty verdict but pleased with the conditional discharge. However, he argued the case was politically motivated.

He said: “The real crime here was challenging Heathrow’s misleading claims about the economic benefits of a Heathrow expansion.

“If they had graffitied some advert for a washing machine in Hounslow High Street it would never have come to this.

“I’m concerned that police and the Crown Prosecution Service are spending money protecting Heathrow’s public relations.”

John Stewart, chairman of local campaign group HACAN, said, “For the last few years we have faced a barrage of adverts from Heathrow in its bid to get a third runway.

"At times it has seemed as if it has been the power and money of the advertising the industry against the people. Joe and Larry have stood up for the people.”