Just Stop Oil: Pair guilty of damaging Van Gogh painting's frame

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have been found guilty of causing criminal damage to a Vincent Van Gogh painting’s frame after gluing themselves to it.

Louis McKechnie, 22, and Emily Brocklebank, 23, caused about £2,000 of damage to the frame of Peach Trees In Blossom at London’s Courtauld Gallery.

McKechnie was jailed for three weeks while Brocklebank received a suspended sentence.

She had said: “I didn’t think I would cause much damage. Glue comes off.”

There have been several similar protests by climate activists in recent weeks.

District Judge Neeta Minhas said the damage caused at the gallery was “substantial”.

Giving her verdict at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, she said: “An 18th Century frame which is hundreds of years old has been permanently damaged.

“It is not in a state where it can return to its original state.”

She added that the painting had “significant, historical and art value” and that the damage was “not minor, insignificant, temporary or trivial”.

“I find you both guilty of criminal damage, having no lawful excuse to cause damage but you did so on a reckless basis,” she said.

McKechnie, from Weymouth in Dorset, has been to prison for a number of previous offences including breaching an injunction designed to prevent road blockades, and for aggravated trespass after he tied himself to a goalpost at a Premier League football match.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told the court Brocklebank and McKechnie used super glue to attach themselves to the Van Gogh painting at the gallery on the Strand on 30 June.

Jurors viewed CCTV footage showing the activists walking into the building at about 15:30 BST after purchasing tickets for an exhibition.

They were then seen removing their jackets to reveal orange Just Stop Oil shirts and attaching themselves to the artwork.

Mr Bryan said the painting, which is worth “millions” was not damaged, but the “valuable” frame was.

Defending the pair, Francesca Cociani asked one of the gallery’s curators, Karen Serres, whether the artwork “has now increased in value because of the protest it was subject to by the defendants”.

She asked: “Say the institute was to sell it on in 20 to 30 years, is it possible its value would now increase?”

Ms Serres replied “absolutely not,” and said she believed the painting could not be sold.

The court heard from Ms Serres that it took three hours for the activists to be removed, and another six hours for the painting to be removed from the frame and put back again.

Ms Serres said the frame, worth about £20,000, dated back to the 18th Century, but “there were large areas of glue left behind and areas of solvent which had seeped into the gilding of the frame”.

“Parts of the frame had fallen off,” she added.

Ms Cociani said McKechnie believed an owner who “respected the wishes of the painter” would have “consented to minor damage”.

Asked if the protests were receiving public support, McKechnie compared his actions to those of civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King.

He said: “In 1960, Martin Luther King was the most hated man in America. The civil rights movement still worked.”

Brocklebank, from Yeadon in Leeds, received a 21-day sentence, suspended for six months, and was made the subject of an electronically monitored six-week curfew.

The student told the court the painting’s owner would have “consented” to the protest, continuing: “Any good human would agree with trying to sustain life on Earth.”

Xavier Gonzales-Trimmer, 21, originally faced the same charge after being accused of “distracting the guards”, but this was dropped. However, he was fined for failing to appear at court for an earlier hearing.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]