Just Stop Oil protesters deny ‘revenge’ soup attack on Van Gogh paintings

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Three Just Stop Oil supporters have denied carrying out an attack on two Van Gogh paintings after soup was thrown at them hours after other activists were jailed,

Stephen Simpson, 61, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, Phillipa Green, 24, of Penryn, Cornwall, and Mary Somerville, 77, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, pleaded not guilty to criminal damage at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

It comes after soup was poured over two Vincent Van Gogh paintings just hours after other members of the group were jailed for damaging the gold frame of the artist’s Sunflowers.

Prosecutor James Bowker said the frames of the paintings had been damaged, adding that an antique frame owned by the National Gallery, estimated to be worth £10,000 to £20,000, would “likely require lengthy restoration”.

He said the value of the other frame, on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, was “unknown, but likely to be in a similar range”, adding that neither painting itself was damaged.

Mr Bowker said damage to the artworks would have a “serious social impact”, adding the Sunflowers “are loved by millions of people around the world and in the UK”.

The prosecutor said the value of damage “could be a high total” once it is assessed.

Mr Bowker said that Simpson and charity worker Green threw soup onto a painting on the left of the gallery and retired teacher Somerville threw soup onto a painting on the right.

The trio then took off their coats to reveal t-shirts which said “Just Stop Oil” on them, the court heard.

Defending, Raj Chada said the damage to the frames had not been assessed yet.

Mr Chada added: “There was no damage to the paintings whatsoever.

“They have been covered by a very thick protective glass screen.”

The National Gallery confirmed the paintings, Sunflowers (1888, National Gallery, London) and Sunflowers (1889, Philadelphia Museum of Art), remain unharmed.

On Friday, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were jailed after causing as much as £10,000 worth of damage to the artwork’s gold-coloured frame when they targeted it at London’s National Gallery.

Plummer received a two-year jail term, while Holland was handed 20 months.

Sentencing the women, Judge Christopher Hehir said the “cultural treasure” could have been “seriously damaged or even destroyed”.

Judge Hehir, who previously jailed the co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion for five years, continued: “Soup might have seeped through the glass.

“You couldn’t have cared less if the painting was damaged or not.

“You had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers.”