18 April 2023 , 08:56
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The protestor who stormed the World Snooker Championships and covered a table with orange chalk has been arrested six times in the last year.
The man who disrupted Robert Milkins' first round clash with Joe Perry has been named as Edred Whittingham. The protester from Cambridge is a politics, philosophy and economics student at Exeter University and has been an active member of Just Stop Oil.
The protest group are demanding the UK Government immediately halt all new oil and gas consents and licences. They have disrupted several sporting events over the past year, including Everton's clash with Newcastle last March and the 2022 British Grand Prix.
Their latest protest came on Monday evening, during this year's World Snooker Championships. Whittingham jumped on one table, while a separate protester was caught by the referee of the second match.
His partner in crime at the Crucible has been named as Margaret Reid, 52, a former museum professional from Kendal, Cumbria.
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Whittingham has claimed to have been arrested six times in the past year and has spent a week in jail.
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Whittingham was led away by security after his protest (PA)
Whittingham during a previous TV appearance (YOUTUBE)He was previously detained last September after taking part in a protest at the Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire.
He also glued his hand to a painting at the Manchester Art Gallery in July in another Just Stop Oil demontrastion. The protest group said he spent three days in custody following that action.
A full-time student, Whittingham has previously claimed he opposes having children due to the threat of the climate crisis.
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He told GB News: “I already have decided that I won’t be having children because I can’t guarantee that there will be a habitable planet for them to grow up into.
“I think it’s the moral choice, given the circumstances we are facing. One and a half degrees of warming is now locked in.
"Two degrees of warming is likely. If we go over two degrees, we could destabilise global civilisation.”
Whittingham targeted Manchester Art Gallery last year
Edred Whittingham being carried away by police officers at Kingsbury Oil Terminal (Facebook/Edred.Whittingham)Whittingham's latest protest came on Monday when he stormed a table at the Crucible before being hauled away by security.
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Play was suspended while the table was cleared of chalk, with Just Stop Oil insisting disruption would continue.
"New oil and gas will snooker us. At around 7:20pm, two Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, interrupting play," a statement from the group read.
Protesters from Just Stop Oil glue themselves to Thomson's Aeolian Harp by JMW Turne (YOUTUBE)"The pair proceeded to cover the tables in orange powder paint before being removed by security and arrested. They are demanding that the Government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to step into in civil resistance against the Government’s genocidal policies.
"We know new oil and gas will kill millions, but the UK government is licensing 100+ new fossil fuel projects. Why would ordinary people not try everything in their power to stop that?
"The time for polite petitions is over. Disruption is coming whether we like it or not."
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