Activists fined over thwarted protest at Woodside boss Meg O’Neill’s City Beach home

Activists who plotted to vandalise the City Beach home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill have avoided jail and told by a chief magistrate that their actions could be viewed as a “personal attack”.

Police were already waiting to pounce when Matilda Lane-Rose and Jesse Noakes arrived at the western suburbs home in August 2023 armed with paint and a bicycle lock.

Emil Davey was not there but was arrested at home over the plot, and was charged alongside Lane-Rose and Noakes with attempted trespass and attempted criminal damage.

They were convicted in January and the magistrate had the option of jailing them for up to 12 months.

At their sentencing in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, Chief Magistrate Steven Heath questioned whether the trio had “crossed the line”.

“I consider the decision to target the CEO’s house had potential to be seen as a personal attack,” he said.

Accompanying that was concern for her family’s safety, Mr Heath said. It was not the role of the court to consider the merits of their cause and the legitimate democratic right to peaceful protest was not unfettered.

The trio planned to splash paint and lock themselves to a gate.

Mr Heath said the amount of damage planned was “not great” but the offences were “not trivial”.

Mr Heath noted that prosecutors had pointed to their lack of remorse and pride in their actions.

He fined Lane-Rose and Davey $2000, noting their young ages of 19 and 21 respectively at the time of the offences and lack of previous convictions.

He also granted them spent convictions, not wanting to scupper Davey’s plan to study overseas nor Lane-Rose’s plan to switch university courses to law.

Noakes, 36, was fined $2500 given his age and prior offences.

Outside court, Davey was unrepentant.

“Ms O’Neill is the CEO of the biggest fossil fuel company, and look, her job is to handle this kind of stuff,” he said.

“So no, I’m not sorry for her. And I think if you’re going to get a bit upset about a 19-year-old’s paint stunt, it’s about time to grow a backbone.”

Lane-Rose said she would continue to protest in a bid to highlight climate change but maybe not “in the criminal sense” — for now.

“Whether that’s within or outside of the law, I’m not planning anything like this anytime soon again,” she said.

The incident and preparations beforehand were filmed by an ABC Four Corners crew.

Davey claimed that during his arrest, an undercover counter-terrorism officer “dressed all in black at 11 o’clock at night . . . pointed a gun at my head”.

“They knew we we’re planning a non-violent protest . . . that’s far, far across the line,” he said.

We knew there was every chance the police would be there before us -

Ms O’Neill later took out restraining orders against the activists, with the fourth — Gerard Mazza — to be sentenced later in February.