Two women charged after protesters smear jam and porridge over bust of Queen Victoria at Glasgow museum

3 March 2024, 19:33

Two women have been charged after they smeared porridge and jam over a bust of Queen Victoria at a Scottish museum, before writing

The two protestors, from This Is Rigged - a campaign group raising awareness of food insecurity, were arrested after defacing the marble bust at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Sorcha Ni Mhairtin, 30, and Hannah Taylor, 23 from This Is Rigged were seen to spray paint the word “c**t” on the plinth at the gallery before being apprehended.

The protest took place at around midday on Sunday, before the duo were seen gluing themselves to the plinth.

A video, posted to This Is Rigged's social media, shows the pair pouring food over the statue while declaring "food is a human right".

According to the group's social media, their aim is to create 'One food hub per every 500 households'.

The Scottish campaign group says the stunt was a protest against increasing food insecurity.

It caused the museum to temporarily close on Sunday, before partially reopening its doors later in the day.

Ni Mhairtin, an Irish activist and community food worker in Glasgow, said: “We refuse to be dragged back to the Victorian era. Diseases of starvation including scurvy and rickets are on the rise.

“Freedom begins with breakfast and if you can’t understand that, we’ll shove it in your face. Food is a human right, and we call out the rotten systems under which we are suffering.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson told PA: “Around 11.55am on Sunday 3 March, 2024, police were called to a report of a protest and alleged vandalism within Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow.

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“Two women, aged 23 and 30 years, have been arrested and charged following the incident.

“They have been released on an undertaking to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.

“A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

"The pair are reportedly from This is Rigged, a 2direct action campaign targeting the Scottish government”.