Fifteen activists have received suspended sentences or community orders for a terrorism-related offence that carries a potential life sentence. The judge decided not to jail them because they were motivated by “genuine reasons”. The activists, known as the Stansted 15, chained themselves to an aeroplane at London’s Stansted Airport in March 2017 to stop the 60 people on board being deported to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. The defendants, who have already filed an appeal, were cheered on by hundreds of supporters when they left the court.