Who is snooker protester Edred Whittingham? | The Sun

PLAY was suspended at the Crucible after a protester defaced a snooker table with orange powder in one of the sport's biggest ever security breaches.

Here's everything you need to know about yob Edred Whittingham, whose stunt brought the first-round World Snooker Championship match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry to a halt.

Who is Edred Whittingham?

Edred Whittingham, 25, from Cambridge, is a Politics, Philosophy and Economics student at Exeter University.

He was jailed at HMP Birmingham last year for blockading the Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire.

The Mail reports that Whittingham, who has two brothers and a sister opposes having children "on moral grounds".

The yob was also arrested after he glued his hand to a Turner painting in Manchester last July – one of six times he has been arrested in the past 12 months.

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Whittingham crowdfunds his activities, telling supporters: "I have been arrested six times in one year and have spent a week in prison.

"Help me stay afloat. My living costs are quite low, and any support you can offer means I can focus on my activism rather than needing to get a job in a pub."

What did Edred Whittingham do at the World Snooker Championships?

Whittingham jumped out of the stands and then climbed on to table one during the first-round match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry on day three of the World Snooker Championship.

In an idiotic stunt, he then chucked some powder that covered the green surface and forced the session to be instantly halted.

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In a coordinated attack, a woman tried to climb on to table two — Mark Allen was playing Fan Zhengyi — but she was stopped by Belgian referee Oliver Marteel.

The action was suspended and both protesters were detained by security backstage.

Cops later confirmed they have both been taken into custody.

World Snooker Tour officials decided to abandon play on the damaged table one for the evening and completely recover it overnight.

No13 seed Milkins and qualifier Perry will now play their first session on Tuesday evening but it is understood the first frame will start again from scratch.

Stephen Hendry, the seven-time world champion, said on the incident: "I have never seen that before at a snooker event. It's a first. 

"It is scary. Wow! You just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. It caught us all by surprise and then this happens.

"For me, straightaway as a snooker player I am thinking: 'Is the table recoverable?' We don't know what that is on the table. There is a lot of things that need working out. It is unknown territory."

MC Rob Walker donned a mask and marigolds gloves and joined in the hoovering operation with fellow colleagues.

The dramatic incident happened at approximately 7.20pm but play on table two resumed after a 40-minute stoppage.

World Snooker Tour officials decided to abandon play on the damaged table one for the evening and completely re-cloth it overnight.

Former World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn called for tougher punishments for protesters in the wake of the incident, telling talkSPORT: "Sport's an easy target. Aintree we saw on Saturday… How long before The Open or Wimbledon or whatever?

"And it is a concern because, whenever someone intrudes on the field of play, wherever it is, your first thought is not that this could be a protest, but it could be something quite harmful.

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"We're such a soft touch as a nation – smack their wrists, give them a small fine, maybe a bit of community hours, maybe a month in prison. It's a ludicrous situation but what do you do about it?

"The problem is there's not enough deterrent out there for these people to do anything but get away with it. It might cost them a few hours of their freedom but there's no serious deterrent and, for that reason alone, expect more of these, not less."

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