Just Stop Oil activists banned from London protests by judge

Three Just Stop Oil activists have been banned from protesting in London ahead of their trial for allegedly throwing soup at two Vincent Van Gogh paintings at the National Gallery.

Mary Somerville, 77, Stephen Simpson, 71, and Phillipa Green, 24, are each charged with two counts of damaging the frames of Sunflowers 1889 and Sunflowers 1888 by dousing the artwork in soup.

The three appeared at Southwark Crown Court earlier and pleaded not guilty before being released on conditional bail.

The judge banned them from protest action within the boundary of the M25 until their trial – which is scheduled to begin in January 2026.

Mr Simpson, of Shipley, West Yorkshire, and Ms Somerville, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, attended court in person, while Ms Green, from Penryn in Cornwall, appeared by video link.

Their lawyer, Raj Chada, argued the ban was a “disproportional” infringement on their right to protest because London is “the seat of government”.

But Judge Alexander Milne said: “The application of the defendants’ right to protest is a relative one – and there seems to be a great deal of blurring between the exercise of that right and the commission of criminal offences.

“This court is not banning them from lawful protest anywhere else in the UK, but I will ban them from participating in any protest within the M25.”