The Jolly Contrarian

Shubtill v Director of Public Prosecutions: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Shubtill v Director of Public Prosecutions (view source)

Revision as of 14:38, 26 October 2022

38 bytes added ,  26 October 2022
no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 17: Line 17:


{{right|(''Cur adv. vult)''}}
{{right|(''Cur adv. vult)''}}
{{smallcaps|{{Cocklecarrot}}}}: London’s National Gallery has stood for 170 years at the northern boundary of Trafalgar Square. Originally conceived by Parliamentary Commission to “give the people an ennobling enjoyment”, the Gallery houses paintings which, on any account, are the highest peaks of the grand massif that is the western cultural tradition. Cimabue’s ''Virgin and Child with Two Angels'' hangs there. So does Leonardo’s ''Madonna of the Rocks''. The Gallery records the inevitable progress of history: Constable’s ''The Hay Wain'' graces a wall not far from Turner’s requiem to the obsolescence of sail, ''The Fighting Temeraire''. No less fulsomely endowed is the Gallery’s modern art collection: Cézannes hangs beside Monets, who accompany Renoirs and Rousseaus. [''Rousseaux?  — Ed]''  
{{smallcaps|{{Cocklecarrot}}}}: London’s National Gallery has stood for 170 years at the northern boundary of Trafalgar Square. Originally conceived by Parliamentary Commission to “give the people an ennobling enjoyment”, the Gallery houses paintings which, on any account, are the highest peaks of the grand massif that is the western cultural tradition. Cimabue’s ''Virgin and Child with Two Angels'' hangs there. So does Leonardo’s ''Madonna of the Rocks''. The Gallery records the inevitable progress of history: Constable’s ''The Hay Wain'' graces a wall not far from Turner’s requiem to the obsolescence of sail, ''The Fighting Temeraire''. No less fulsomely endowed is the Gallery’s modern art collection: Cézannes hangs beside Monets, who accompany Renoirs and Rousseaus. [''Rousseaux?  — Ed]''  


<div style="text-indent: 20px;">Accompanying, and perhaps surpassing even these, are the works of that one-eared Flemish wizard, Vincent Van Gogh. Foremost among them is ''Sunflowers'', a painting whose sister, Sir Anthony tells us, was once the most expensive painting ever to change hands.
<div style="text-indent: 20px;">Accompanying, and perhaps surpassing even these, are the works of that one-eared Flemish wizard, Vincent Van Gogh. Foremost among them is ''Sunflowers'', a painting whose sister, Sir Anthony tells us, was once the most expensive painting ever to change hands.
Line 26: Line 26:
===Facts===
===Facts===


Just after 11am, two young women entered Room 43 of the Gallery. Dressed in matching white tee-shirts, they might have been mistaken, at a glance, for devotees of ''Wham!'' or ''Frankie Goes To Hollywood''.  No arguments were advanced, either way, but their tee-shirts read  “{{caps|Just Stop Oil}}” and not “{{caps|Relax!}}” or “{{caps|Choose Life}}”, so we can suppose they were not. In any case, nothing turns on it.  
Just after 11am, two young persons, the complainants, entered Room 43 of the Gallery. Dressed in matching white tee-shirts, they might have been mistaken, at a glance, for devotees of ''Wham!'' or ''Frankie Goes To Hollywood''.  No arguments were advanced, either way, but their tee-shirts read  “{{caps|Just Stop Oil}}” and not “{{caps|Relax!}}” or “{{caps|Choose Life}}”, so we can suppose they were not. In any case, nothing turns on it.  


Being a normal Friday at season-end, the Gallery was busy. The women did not attract the attention of the Gallery’s security detail. This the Gallery has since come to regret, for the women had, concealed about their persons, containers of soup. Soon it became clear they had not brought them for lunch. Without ado, the women vaulted a low velvet rope, emptied their soup tins onto the ''Sunflowers,'' glued t
Being a normal Friday at season-end, the Gallery was busy. The complainants did not attract the attention of the Gallery’s security detail. This the Gallery has since come to regret, for the complainants had, concealed about their persons, containers of soup. Soon it became clear they had not brought them for lunch. Without ado, they vaulted a low velvet rope, emptied their soup tins onto the ''Sunflowers,'' glued t
elves to a nearby wall and began shouting at everyone.  
elves to a nearby wall and began shouting at everyone.  


Line 35: Line 35:
One — the appellant — did not. He exited Room 43, largely unobserved, and at a decent clip. We shall hear more about him shortly.
One — the appellant — did not. He exited Room 43, largely unobserved, and at a decent clip. We shall hear more about him shortly.


In the mean time, the women continued with their shouting. Presently — with curious haste, I am inclined to think — the world’s media representatives arrived, with cameras, cine films, videographs and outside broadcast units. They formed a makeshift press Gallery. Their scrum may have impeded Gallery security — again, a regrettable dearth of evidence on the point — but by all accounts no-one: not the patrons, nor members of the press, nor Gallery staff, made any effort to eject the young women, or even stop them talking. By now, Dame Marjorie contends, they were in any case fastened to the wall securely with Araldite{{Tm}} such that they could not be removed even if one wanted to.
In the mean time, the complainants continued with their shouting. Presently — with curious haste, I am inclined to think — the world’s media representatives arrived, with cameras, cine films, videographs and outside broadcast units. They formed a makeshift press Gallery. Their scrum may have impeded Gallery security — again, a regrettable dearth of evidence on the point — but by all accounts no-one: not the patrons, nor members of the press, nor Gallery staff, made any effort to eject the complainants, or even stop them talking. By now, Dame Marjorie contends, they were in any case fastened to the wall securely with Araldite{{Tm}} such that they could not be removed even if one wanted to.


The young women warmed to their task. The more loquacious of the two was Ms. [[Violet Elizabeth Bott]], of Surrey. She embarked upon something of a monologue.
The complainants warmed to their task. The more loquacious of the two was Ms. [[Violet Elizabeth Bott]], of Surrey. She embarked upon something of a monologue.


“Whath worth more: art or life?” she asked, rhetorically. “Ith it worth more than food? More than juthtith? Are you more contherned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people? The cotht of living crithith ith part of the cotht of oil crithith! Fuel ith unaffordable to millionth of cold, hungry familieth. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of thoup.”
“Whath worth more: art or life?” she asked, rhetorically. “Ith it worth more than food? More than juthtith? Are you more contherned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people? The cotht of living crithith ith part of the cotht of oil crithith! Fuel ith unaffordable to millionth of cold, hungry familieth. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of thoup.”
Retrieved from "https://jollycontrarian.com/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/68703"