Climate Activists Fined After Spray Painting Scottish Parliament with Red Paint

Climate Activists from the group 'This is Rigged' have been fined for their part in a protest on August 1st, where red paint was thrown at the Scottish Parliament building.

Ruth Lanser (27), Hannah Bright (21), Georgia Barrett (27) and Hannah Taylor (23) were each found guilty of malicious mischief, with three of the women receiving fines of £200. Hannah Bright was admonished, due in part to the fact she'd already served seven days on remand following her arrest.

The court heard Police estimates of the total costs incurred by the protest at more than £16,000 - that included cleaning fees and economic losses due to the building's closure.

Sheriff Alistair Noble heard from each of the accused, that financial circumstances meant they couldn't afford large fines. Ruth Lanser argued that the action shouldn't be considered malicious, telling the Sheriff "if it was malicious, people would be running away, they would have been scared ... instead they crowded round to listen to what we had to say". She added that she was certain future generations would judge activists like her to have been on the "right side of history".

"What we're fighting for is so much greater than punitive measures that the justice system can impose on us"

Speaking outside of Court following the verdict, Hannah Bright said the group's demands were supported by the majority of the Scottish public:

"This is Rigged is demanding the Scottish government vocally oppose all new oil and gas licenses and create a fair transition plan for workers, and the majority of the Scottish public - more than half of the public - are for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewables".

"The reason we took action that day is because Rishi Sunak had just approved 130 new oil licenses in our North Sea, which the UN, the IPCC, the IEA and basically every major scientific body have said will push us over two degrees of warming."

She said today's decision won't deter future demonstrations, saying "what we're fighting for is so much greater than punitive measures that the justice system can impose on us".