Jury out in trial of protesters accused of damaging Buckingham Palace fountain

The jury has retired to begin its deliberations in the trial of a group of Animal Rebellion protesters accused of causing thousands of pounds of damage to a Buckingham Palace fountain by releasing red dye into it.

Louis McKechnie, 23, Christopher Bennett, 27, Riley Ings, 27, Claire Smith, 26, and Rachel Steele, 48, are on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of causing £7,080 of criminal damage to the Queen Victoria Memorial water feature on August 26 2021.

The prosecution say the dye not only turned the water red, but also stained the stonework of the fountain, and that CCTV footage shows a number of the protesters dyeing their hands red and then leaving hand prints on the stonework of the fountain.

“There is no dispute that red dye was in fact added to the water on that day and all of them have accepted that they intended for that water to be turned red… to create the impression of a bloodbath,” prosecutor Ailsa McKeon said in a closing speech on Friday.

“What they each deny is that they intended or were reckless as to causing any damage and in fact that damage was caused at all.”

The most that the Crown can sensibly say is that it affected the aesthetics

The court heard previously that the fountain, which is cleaned once a month, received an emergency clean at an extra cost after the protest.

Michael Robert Turner – an assistant manager for Royal Parks at the time of the incident – told the jury earlier in the week that the marble is “porous” and that there was a risk the dye would seep in and stain the stone if it was not immediately cleaned.

Laura Stockdale, defending Steele and Bennett, argued that the dye was designed to be added to bodies of water, including fountains, and Royal Parks “could have just left the red dye in the water to weaken as time passed”.

She said turning the water red did not interfere with the structure of the monument nor affect its value.

“The most that the Crown can sensibly say is that it affected the aesthetics,” Ms Stockdale said. “But members of the jury isn’t that just subjective? Is that really damage?”

Shina Animashaun, defending Ings, McKechnie and Smith, made the same point that the dye was “fit for purpose”.

Of his clients, he said: “They came there to say just because you are a royal member of the family does not mean that you should have different responsibilities to us (in relation to the climate).”

Both defence barristers said their clients neither intended to cause damage nor were they reckless as to whether the Grade I-listed fountain would be damaged.

The jury was sent out just after 1pm on Friday and will return to court on Tuesday at 10am to continue deliberations.

Bennett, of Fish Ponds Road, Bristol , Ings, of no fixed address, McKechnie, of Claremont Road, Dorset, Steele, of Capworth Street, east London, and Smith, of Chadwick Street, Leeds, each deny one count of criminal damage.