Two activists have been spared jail after damaging a glass cabinet containing the Crown of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny during a protest against food poverty at Edinburgh Castle.
Jamie Priest, 26, and Catriona Roberts, 22, both students, targeted the cabinet in a protest linked to campaign group This is Rigged, which claimed responsibility on the day of the incident on November 15 last year.
The pair pleaded guilty to maliciously causing damage at an earlier hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and were acquitted of breaching the peace.
Priest and Roberts, both from Glasgow, were sentenced to unpaid work at the same court on Thursday.
A tour guide was escorting a group through the castle and had reached the Crown Room when he heard someone shout: “This is a peaceful protest,” the court previously heard.
After the protest, This is Rigged released a statement saying: “Food is a human right. Hunger is a political choice.”
The Crown Room was closed to the public after the incident, and Historic Environment Scotland said at the time some damage was caused to the protective glass housing the relics, which the court heard totalled nearly £3,000.
The court previously heard a male activist was seen spray-painting the cabinet, which housed the Crown and Stone of Destiny, while Priest began to film – prompting the tour guide to press the panic button and alert staff and police.
A phrase had been written on the cabinet in Gaelic which was later translated and understood to mean “The people are mightier than a Lord”, the court heard.
Roberts and the male activist were seen striking the cabinet “using a pinch hammer and a chisel”, it was said, while Roberts also shouted phrases such as “Baby products to be reduced to pre-Covid prices” and “There is no heritage without the people”, the court heard.
Roberts, a student at Strathclyde University, was on bail at the time for an offence she was later acquitted of.
Prosecutor Cameron Gaw said: “The cost of repairs was £2,798.”
Representing herself, Roberts told the court she had “no malice towards” towards the historical artefacts.
Roberts said: “I would like the court to consider this was not done out of malice – I have no agenda against Edinburgh Castle or the Stone of Destiny. When I took this action 24% of Scotland experienced food insecurity in the last year. Parents were criminalised for trying to feed their children and baby formula was in security cases.”
Defending co-accused Priest, who uses the pronoun “they”, solicitor Steven Donald said: “The motivation is very clear, I would hesitate to describe any act of criminality as well intentioned. They are attempting to highlight the cost-of-living crisis and raising the issue of the cost of baby products.
“While the actions clearly strayed into criminality, they were seeking to highlight a fairly worthy cause, albeit the criminal court does not allow them to raise awareness by ways such as this.
“In terms of actions in smashing up a glass case which contained artefacts of national importance, I’ve spoken to Jamie Priest, they had no expectation of being able to actually get at items of national importance and no intention of interfering with these items.
“They anticipated alarms would be activated and they would be evacuated. They did it as a stunt to bring a spotlight to this matter. Jamie Priest has expressed they would engage in similar conduct again. I’ve spoken to Jamie Priest this morning – they advised they are well aware they cannot go about committing criminal actions.
“Jamie Priest expresses the view that more peaceful and non-criminal means of protest will be the way forward.”
Sentencing, Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “You each pled guilty to a charge of malicious damage of the display case containing the Stone of Destiny. The cost of damage was £2,798.
“I obviously understand the motivation for each of you. I think it began with someone saying ‘this is a peaceful protest’ and I don’t imagine anyone would have been frightened by what you did.”That doesn’t mean it’s accepted.”
Both defendants were sentenced to unpaid work – Priest was given 120 hours and Roberts 180.
The Stone of Destiny was long used in the inauguration of Scottish monarchs but in 1296 it was seized by King Edward I of England as war loot and taken to London.
It was built into a Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey, used in the coronation ceremonies of Kings and Queens of England and, later, Great Britain after the Scottish and English crowns were united.
In 1950, a group of students took the stone from Westminster Abbey and returned it to Scotland to try and advance the cause of Scottish independence, with it later found at Arbroath Abbey.
The stone – also known as the Stone of Scone – was used in Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 and also in the coronation of King Charles last year.
The stone was formally returned to Scotland in 1996 to go on display at Edinburgh Castle.
In March this year, it returned to Perthshire for the first time in more than 700 years, having originally been kept at nearby Scone.
