Two retirees have rejected allegations that they defaced Charles Darwin’s tomb at Westminster Abbey by applying orange chalk paint to it.
Alyson Lee, a 66-year-old former teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, aged 77 and a former chief executive of Reading Council from Frome in Somerset, are accused of committing criminal damage by inscribing the phrase “1.5 is dead” on the grave of the 19th-century naturalist last month.
This phrase alludes to the efforts aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and mitigating the effects of climate change.
During the proceedings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, it was revealed that Ms. Lee was responsible for spraying “1.5,” while Ms. Bligh completed the phrase with “is dead.”
A representative for the church previously stated that they did not expect the protest to result in any lasting damage.
The next court hearing for Ms. Lee and Ms. Bligh is scheduled for March 21 at Southwark Crown Court.
