Police have arrested three people after two protests disrupted tennis at Wimbledon on the tournament’s third day. Two men and a woman, all wearing T-shirts with “Just Stop Oil” printed on them, have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage after throwing orange confetti and jigsaw puzzle pieces on to a court.
The two incidents occurred about two hours apart on Wednesday. The first featured Deborah Wilde, 68, a retired teacher from London, and Simon Milner-Edwards, 66, a retired musician from Manchester, Just Stop Oil said.
It happened just after 2pm during a match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro. The second disrupted play between Briton Katie Boulter and her opponent Daria Saville, both of whom helped clear the court after an activist was escorted away.
The Metropolitan Police tweeted after the latter protest: “We are aware of an incident on Court 18 whereby one male has unlawfully entered the field of play and discharged items onto the playing surface.
“He was immediately removed from the Grounds and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage.”
Wimbledon said on Twitter after the first stoppage: “Following an incident on Court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the Grounds.”
It is not the first sporting event the environmental group has targeted. Other events include an Ashes cricket match between England and Australia, the Premiership Rugby final and the Snooker World Championships.
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The incident occurred despite beefed up security at the championships. Extra guards were brought in to conduct searches of people coming on, leading to longer queues for people trying to enter.
