JSO activists who threw soup over Van Gogh masterpiece jailed

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/jso-activists-who-threw-soup-over-van-gogh-masterpiece-jailed-z6hmkpqlk

Posted by SlySquire

34 Comments

  1. “Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, threw two tins of Heinz tomato soup at the painting at the National Gallery and then glued themselves to the wall in October 2022 in the group’s high-profile stunt. Plummer was jailed for two years and Holland for 20 months.”

  2. Interesting_Pack5958 on

    As terrible as this is, we need to stop sending people to prison for crimes like this. Give them community service, relevant to the crime they committed. Cleaning graffiti off of walls and shop shutters at 5am in the morning for example.

  3. Seems like some kind of community service sentence would be more appropriate, given we need all the prison cells for violent criminals. And they are hardly a danger to the public.

  4. Idiots, but not dangerous. They also aren’t going to change their ways after a prison sentence, it’s just more attention for these people… Seems like a waste of prison space to me.

    Couldn’t just get them to clean up some area or something as community service?

  5. Longjumping_Stand889 on

    Those seem like pretty stiff sentences to me. The state showing it won’t allow this kind of protest anymore I think.

  6. I hope I dont live long enough to see groups like JSO totally vindicated.

    remind me 20 years

    edit remind me 10 years

  7. MeanCustardCreme on

    When I first came across the woman on the left with he pink hair, I was curious to find out the background of the person, their thought process, and what drives them. After some digging, it was apparent that she is a “serial activist” with very little knowledge on what it is she is protesting about. Basically, somebody who turns up and gets involved in whichever movement is popular at the time.

    If you look her up on YouTube you can find various interviews she has done, and they are awful. Usually what happens is that she can’t give any coherent answer on any topic, and the more she is questioned the more she crumbles. It eventually leads to yelling, or some emotional response, playing the victim. All the usual kind of things.

    I think it says a lot about Just Stop Oil. Even if you back them, you need to consider that, if people like this are the best they’ve got to represent your organisation to the public, then it’s a massive problem. It would be considerably more impactful to have activists who conduct demonstrations, but can reply intelligently to media interviews and so on. At least have some kind of clear message.

    Another point is that although activists like this play victim, they might be right, but for other reasons. What they are actually victims of are Just Stop Oil, who take on young people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, don’t understand the implications, and convince them into worthless scenarios which land them in jail.

  8. It should be mentioned Phoebe Plummer has been arrested multiple times for these kinds of stunts, which would have been an aggravating factor in her sentencing.

  9. illegalbusiness on

    So we’re letting dangerous criminals out of prison because of overcrowding, yet we’re throwing protesters in there. I would hardly say these people are dangerous to the public. An inconvenience, yes; a danger, no.

  10. Why are the sentencing for these protestors so harsh, vs say – sexual offenders who also commit non violent crimes but arguably cause way more harm, aka Huw Edward’s sentencing the other week?

    Not saying JSO activists shouldn’t be punished if they break the law, but this seem rather extreme from a sentencing pov.

  11. Throw soup at a painting: 2 years in jail.

    Kill someone while driving: Fine and 6 points on your licence.

  12. Seems insanely harsh. An old frame was damaged (how badly damaged was it?) and the painting itself is fine. Meanwhile we’re doing irreversible damage to our planet in a way that will drastically affect all of our lives forever and no one gives a shit

  13. GivMeBredOrMakeMeDed on

    Rape and murder gets you told off sternly by an old white man in a wig but protesting the death of the fragile ecosystem that keeps humanity alive gets you 2 years in jail.

    And still men wonder why women won’t touch them with a barge pole…

  14. Cross_examination on

    Rapists get smaller sentences. Killing someone with your car gets you 6 points on your license.

  15. But corporations are allowed to kill and poison us over all year round without anyone being jailed. Brilliant.

  16. ConsistentMajor3011 on

    How the fuck are eco idiots getting 2 years and the rapists from that grooming gang got 5? Obviously nobody likes them defacing artworks, but the sentencing makes absolutely no sense. By this logic, three cases of soup throwing on art is more heinous than one count of rape

  17. *activists who threw soup at a glass case.

    Like this is nonsense. Young people who are protesting not out of hate or malice but for “can we please not drown by 2050” and doing a stunt that draws headlines but causes no almost damage? 

    And getting 4x the jail time than actual nonces? 

    Its very hard to read this as anything other than a crackdown on protest. Even if they did have priors this is a “crime” that can be cleaned up by some kitchen roll in about 2 mins. 

  18. Analrupturemcgee on

    I mean what could be more indicative of a bought and paid for political class than legislation that gives longer sentences for peaceful protest than many people get for violent sexual assault?

    The law is no longer there for the protection of the public. It is there for the protection of vested interests.

    We have been betrayed.

  19. Aren’t we currently trying out a scheme to let low level offenders out of jail early to ease the overcrowding?

  20. I don’t get it, why jail? Why not severe community service? Why UK doesnt have system for community services???? Jails are full but “streets are dirty”

  21. They got a jail sentence this. For a comparison. A 30 something year old male was found to have one of the biggest collections of child pornography in Scotland a few years ago – including creating images.

    His sentence: community payback order.

    When people ask what is wrong with society, and things are fucked. Remember how this government/society has treated protesters.

    Note: In sentencing, I find it interesting that the judge used the potential for the painting to be damaged and it being priceless as part of his reasoning for the sentence. The painting wasn’t damaged.

    I wonder if he takes such hypotheticals in cases of drink driving or common assault. You could have killed someone while driving under the influence, or you could have killed someone with your actions.

  22. Hey, all the people saying “they got what they deserved” etc. What do you think about immigration right now? Think its too high? What do you think will happen in 20 years or so when climate change makes more and more of world uninhabitable and the problem becomes 10x worse?

    2 years for a peaceful protest is outrageous, fuck this country.

  23. Or here is another interesting piece of information. Judge Christopher Hehir sentencing record:

    – gave a suspended sentences to a police officer who had sex in a patrol car with a drunk woman he offered to take home. Tax payers money well spent.

    – He allowed a man who deliberately crashed a car into the gates of Downing Street and was found with the most serious type of indecent images of children aged eight to 12 to leave the court with a suspended sentence

    – he did not imprison a man who pleaded guilty violent disorder, and later to  assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery, another who pleaded guilty to a count of violent disorder and a third who pleaded guilty to one count of affray.

    I fully appreciate each case, and a person is an individual with a differing life circumstances, etc. However, he allowed all 5 of the above to walk away with non custodial sentences for violent crimes, crimes against children, and crimes in a public office. But climate protestors are who pose a risk to society and need to be in prison.

  24. bannanawaffle13 on

    Each day we sleep walk into authoritarianism Remember don’t hold a opinion that differs on what you told, don’t protest or speak up, just keep your head down and do what your told.No matter what you belive prison for protests is a dangerous precedent for a supposed free country.