Just Stop Oil activists who lobbed soup over Van Gogh paintings have been charged after throwing soup at artworks in the National Gallery.
At around 2:30pm yesterday, three members of the climate protest group entered the Van Gogh 'Poets and Lovers' exhibition at the National Gallery. With cans of Heinz vegetable soup in hand, they threw out the content at two Van Gogh 'Sunflowers' paintings.
Taking off their jackets to reveal Just Stop Oil t-shirts, the campaigners told the crowd: 'Future generations will regard these prisoners of conscience to be on the right side of history.'
Another said: 'We will be held accountable for our actions today, and we will face the full force of the law. When will the fossil fuel executives and the politicians they've bought be held accountable for the criminal damage that they are imposing on every living thing?'
Stephen Simpson, 61, Phillipa Green, 24, and Mary Somerville, 77, were all charged with criminal damage today. The trio will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Staff at the gallery inspected the painting and frame for damage while the protesters were still attached to the wall, and were worried the soup may have dripped through the protective glass.
One of the paintings – 'Sunflowers 1888' – was the same one targeted by Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland in October 2022. They were jailed hours before the second souping for a total of three years and eight months for vandalising the artwork with soup.
In the earlier action, Plummer questioned: 'What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people? The cost-of-living crisis is part of the cost-of-oil crisis.'
Judge Christopher Hehir said it was 'offensive' for Plummer to portray herself as a political prisoner, stating: 'We don't have political prisoners in this country.'
