This is Rigged activist charged for attack on Edinburgh’s Stone of Destiny display

A recent graduate has been ordered to complete a 12 month community payback order and 180 hours of unpaid labour.

Joe Madden, 22, protested in on behalf of This Is Rigged in November 2023 in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

He was seen vandalising a display case containing the Stone of Destiny and caused around £3,000 of damage.

Two other students, Jamie Priest, 26, and Catriona Roberts, 22, assisted in the protest and were also spared jail time and ordered to complete 180 and 120 hours of unpaid work respectively.

Glasgow Live reports that the protest began as a tour group reached the Crown Room, where a tour guide heard someone shouting “This is a peaceful protest”, before witnessing one of the activists spray-painting the display cabinet while Priest filmed the events.

Roberts was also heard shouting protest slogans such as “baby products to be reduced to pre-Covid prices” and “there is no heritage without the people” while the spray-painted message was a Gaelic phrase which when translated into English reads: “The people are mightier than a Lord”.

Madden was seen holding a “brick or stone which he attempted to smash the cabinet with” by a tour guide who was able to press a panic button, alerting security to the protest.

He pleaded guilty to damaging the display cabinet by hitting it with a rock, hammer, chisel and similar implements when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He returned to the court on Thursday 23, following a delay for the court to receive social work reports on Madden, where he received his sentence.

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Defending, Clare Ryan told the court on Thursday: “I understand that the damage was the terms of same as co-accused, around £3,000. That was the gist of the amount of damage.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell said: “I heard the circumstances of this matter in front of me previously. Now I have social work report which is helpful on expanding on your circumstances, and that you appreciate the seriousness and significance.

“There is a right to express oneself and engage in political activity but it is not unqualified and this crossed the line.”

The Stone of Destiny is an important symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, being used as part of their inauguration.

However, it was seized by King Edward I of England and taken to London where it was used in the coronation ceremonies of English, and later British, monarchs.

When taken to England, it was built into a coronation chair in Westminster Abbey. Over 200 years later a group of students attempted a raid on Westminster Abbey with the goal of returning the stone to Scotland as a rallying call for independence.