Animal Rising protester who ran on to the track in the Derby spared jail after pleading guilty to public nuisance charges

The Animal Rising protester who invaded the track at Epsom during the Derby received a suspended 18-week prison sentence and 80 hours of community service at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday.

Ben Newman, 32, from Hackney, altered his plea to the charge of intentionally causing a public nuisance to guilty and was ordered to pay the Crown's costs of £1,200, plus £156 in court expenses, having initially requested a crown court hearing when pleading not guilty before magistrates last month.

The Jockey Club now plans to pursue legal action against Newman, having successfully applied for a high court injunction banning Animal Rising from disrupting the race.

Reacting to the guilty plea, Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale said: "In pleading guilty to a charge of causing public nuisance, Ben Newman and Animal Rising have acknowledged that their decision to breach security and run on to the track after the Derby had started was a dangerous and criminal act.

"We condemn such breathtakingly reckless, illegal and dangerous behaviour in the strongest possible terms and, subject to further consultation with our legal team, it is our intention to now pursue an application for contempt of court against Mr Newman for breaching the high court injunction we were granted before the Derby."

Animal Rising had maintained the race had not started when protesters attempted to get on the track, but split-screen footage of the race and the home straight was shown by prosecutor Wendy Cottee KC to show the race was under way before Newman got on to the track.

Cottee also read aloud a message Surrey Police recovered from protest organisers that read: "We need as many as possible to get on the track with us. The more we can get on the track the more disruption we can cause."

Ben Newman is tackled to the ground on Derby day at EpsomCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Newman was one of 31 individuals arrested in connection to Animal Rising protests on Derby day, and one of 12 arrested at the racecourse.

Once Newman's plea had been changed Nick Goss KC, defending, argued he had merely planned to "disrupt", and "cause annoyance", and said "in reality there was no danger to any party involved" with the horses more than a minute away from the point at which Newman invaded.

In his sentencing Judge Mark Ockelton praised the swift response of security personnel for avoiding a dangerous situation. "Your behaviour resulted in a large number of public servants having to deal with you with a crowd of horses running towards them," he said. "You had no control of how long it would take."

He added: "Because of their skill there was no actual danger or disruption, but that was due to their competence, not your planning."

Ockelton noted Newman was entitled to 25 per cent credit for his guilty plea, reducing a 24-week sentence to 18 weeks, but felt the offence was "too serious to be met by a fine or community service".

The two-year suspended sentence was to act as a direct deterrent to Newman engaging in similar behaviour in future, as he was on bail for a number of similar offences and the judge noted the offence in question was a breach of bail terms from Merseyside Police in April, which stated he was not to attend sporting events.

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