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WATCH: Octogenarian Climate Change Protesters Use Hammer and Chisel to Try and Break Glass Protecting Magna Carta

Both of the elderly protesters have been taken into custody on suspicion of criminal damage.

Published: May 10, 2024
  |   By Cassandra MacDonald
WATCH: Octogenarian Climate Change Protesters Use Hammer and Chisel to Try and Break Glass Protecting Magna Carta

Two octogenarian climate change protesters used a hammer and chisel to try and break the glass case protecting the Magna Carta at the British Library.


Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, an 85-year-old former biology teacher, are part of the Just Stop Oil activist group.

The pair also held a banner that read, "The government is breaking the law."


According to the Metropolitan Police Department, both elderly protesters have been taken into custody on suspicion of criminal damage.

Sky News reports, "The British Library in London holds two of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, with the others being held at Lincoln and Salisbury Cathedrals."


"The Magna Carta is rightly revered, being of great importance to our history, to our freedoms and to our laws," Parfitt said, according to the report. "But there will be no freedom, no lawfulness, no rights, if we allow climate breakdown to become the catastrophe that is now threatened."


The British Library confirmed in a statement that two people had "attacked the toughened glass case" and that "the library's security team intervened to prevent further damage to the case, which was minimal."

"The police were notified and the Magna Carta itself remains undamaged," the library confirmed.

"The treasures gallery is temporarily closed until further notice."

It is unclear if and when the elders will be released or what penalty they may face for the crime.

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