Two young Just Stop Oil supporters, who smashed the glass cover of a painting once famously slashed by a suffragette, have been granted a temporary reprieve after a jury were unable to reach a majority verdict at Southwark Crown Court today. [1]
Hanan Ameur and Harrison Donnelly took action at the National Gallery in November 2023, declaring: “Politics is failing us. It failed women in 1914 and it is failing us now. New oil and gas will kill millions.” They used safety hammers to smash the glass covering ‘The Rokeby Venus’ by Diego Velazquez. [2]
After a 5 day trial at Southwark Crown Court before Judge Karu, the jury were unable to reach a majority verdict on the charge of criminal damage. The Judge discharged the jury and granted the defendants unconditional bail. The prosecution has requested a retrial.
Following the trial, Hanan Ameur said:
“Juries have the absolute power to acquit on their conscience. The suffragettes were vilified as criminals in their time, and now we name train lines after them. This hung jury shows the fight against the greatest injustice we have ever faced continues. What we can all agree on is that radical action is necessary in the fight for climate justice and I will continue to fight for my future and others, as a young Brit, a daughter and a friend.”
The court heard that the glass screen covering the painting needed to be reinstated and that minor repair work was required to remove microscopic shards of glass embedded in the varnish and to revarnish the painting at a total cost of £3,325.
In giving evidence, Harrison Donnelly said that the defendants had used glass hammers, which are designed to safely damage only the glass because “I love art, last thing I wanted was to damage a priceless painting”.
In summing up, Meghan Curran acting for Harrison Donnelly argued that inconvenient protests are a feature of a functioning democracy. The suffragettes were vilified in their time, but their actions led to equality of women under the law. Sarah-Jane Ewart acting for Hanan Ameur argued that protest requires ‘direct action’ because words and other non-direct action protests don’t work. She said that the motive for the action and the lawful excuse was the failure of the government to act on climate change, specifically in stopping oil licences.
The trial comes in the week that the Senior Judge presiding over the government’s Palestine Action proscription appeal, Lady Chief Justice Carr, displayed her complete ignorance of the sometimes violent and clandestine nature of the Suffragette movement’s actions. [3]
In 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson used a meat cleaver to slash the 1650 painting by Diego Velázquez, known as the Rokeby Venus in resistance to the UK government’s imprisonment of Emmeline Pankhurst. This followed the escalation of the Suffragettes campaign from 1912 onwards to include coordinated waves of breaking shop and office windows, sending letter bombs, bombing and setting fire to public buildings and physically attacking politicians. [4]
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’ and on March 27th 2025 announced an end to the campaign of action. However, our supporters will continue to tell the truth in court and to speak out for political prisoners.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
April 26th 2025 was the last Just Stop Oil action, but our supporters will continue to tell the truth in the courts, speak out for political prisoners, and call out the UK’s oppressive anti-protest laws.
Just Stop Oil continues to rely on small donations from the public to make this happen.
[2] Action press release : https://juststopoil.org/2023/11/06/women-didnt-get-the-vote-by-voting-its-time-for-deeds-not-words-just-stop-oil-supporters-smash-suffragette-painting/
[3] https://www.owenjones.news/p/palestine-action-judges-insane-suffragette
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette_bombing_and_arson_campaign