Just Stop Oil activists acquitted for gluing to Turner painting frame

In July 2022, two activists from Just Stop Oil, Paul Bell, 24, a climate impacts PhD candidate, and Edred Whittingham, 27, an energy advisor, were acquitted after gluing themselves to a J.M.W. Turner painting at Manchester Art Gallery. They had used chalk to spray 'No New Oil' and the JSO logo on the floor. Although charged with criminal damage under £5,000, the Manchester District Judge deemed their actions proportionate given the climate emergency. This protest was part of JSO's initial series of gallery demonstrations urging the UK government to cease issuing new fossil fuel licenses. A JSO representative described the acquittal as 'a chink of light' in the face of state repression, while 14 JSO supporters are currently serving up to five years in prison, including those involved in the soup incident with Van Gogh's Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.