Just Stop Oil activists found guilty of throwing soup over Van Gogh painting

Two Just Stop Oil activists have been found guilty of criminal damage at Southwark Crown Court after throwing tinned soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers in 2022.

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, threw two tins of Heinz soup over the 1888 masterpiece at the National Gallery on 14 October 2022 and then glued themselves to the wall.

The oil-on-canvas painting, worth up to £72.5m, was protected by a glass cover, but the 17th century Italian frame housing it was damaged, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The pair had paid a visit to the museum in Trafalgar Square a day before the incident and bought the tins of soup from a Tesco supermarket in central London.

They denied the charges but were convicted of damaging property by a jury after a four day trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Neither woman showed any emotion as the jury announced its verdicts.

Judge Christopher Hehir, who last week sentenced JSO co-founder Roger Hallam and four other activists for an unprecedented total of 21 years, said the pair ‘crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic’.

He is expected to bail the pair ahead of sentencing on a date to be fixed.

Cross-examined by Ms Kolar, Holland was asked who she and Plummer were taking instructions from.

She replied: ‘I don’t know. Someone else in Just Stop Oil.’

Plummer has been described as JSO’s ‘poster girl’ and last November she was jailed for six months for taking part in a slow march to protest against gas and oil.

The former University of Manchester student told the court: ‘Anna and I are both young people motivated by a deep, deep fear of what we know is to come.

‘We are motivated by a love of life. We are motivated by being let down by our government who refuse to take appropriate action.

‘I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers how all our energy bills soared.

‘I am not the only one who wore a coat and gloves inside the house to avoid putting the heating on.’

Plummer claimed that she knew that the painting would be well protected by ‘robust’ glass glazing.

She told the court that she was prepared to go to prison.

‘I am willing to risk the consequences. I am willing to risk time in prison.. That is how serious it is.

‘We have experienced the wettest 18 months since records began. All our food security is at risk.’

Asked if she had taken instructions from anyone Plummer replied: ‘I wouldn’t say I took instructions. I wasn’t coerced, or told I had to do something.

‘I was presented with a plan and was asked if I thought it was a good idea. I don’t act on the instructions of anyone else.’

Holland, of Newcastle, and Plummer, of Lambeth, denied but were convicted of damaging property.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.