This Is Rigged activist who damaged Stone of Destiny display case ordered to undertake unpaid work

23 January 2025, 11:35 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 16:22

A graduate who vandalised a display case containing the Stone of Destiny at Edinburgh Castle has been handed a community payback order with unpaid work.

This Is Rigged activist Joe Madden, 22, attacked the cabinet containing a crown and the stone during a demonstration over the cost of living crisis, causing around £3,000 of damage.

He was with two other students, Jamie Priest, 26, and Catriona Roberts, 22, who were also spared jail for their role in the protest on 15 November 2023.

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

He returned to the dock on Thursday, where he was sentenced to a 12-month community payback order and 180 hours of unpaid work.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell said: "There is a right to express oneself and engage in political activity but it is not unqualified and this crossed the line."

The court previously heard Madden, of Dunbar in East Lothian, was seen holding a "brick or stone which he attempted to smash the cabinet with" by a tour guide who pressed a panic button.

Fiscal depute Nadia Stewart said the tour guide, who saw what appeared to be spray paint being sprayed on the cabinet, heard someone earlier say "this is a peaceful protest".

Defending, Clare Ryan noted the damage was around £3,000.

She added: "Mr Madden has no previous convictions. He pled at first diet. He is now residing in Dunbar just after finishing his degree.

"It's very important principles he still adheres to. He is working with the organisation, but he has no interest in taking part in further protest that ends up in the justice system.

"He has found it quite difficult."

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The Stone of Destiny has been associated with the Scottish and UK monarchies for centuries.

It was long used in the inauguration of Scottish monarchs but was seized by King Edward I of England as war loot in 1296 and taken to London.

It was built into a coronation chair at Westminster Abbey and was used in the coronation ceremonies of kings and queens of England and, later, Great Britain after the Scottish and English crowns were united in the early 17th century.

In 1950, a group of students carried out an audacious raid to steal it from Westminster Abbey and return it to Scotland to try and advance the cause of independence.

The incident led to the sandstone block splitting in two but it was later recovered.

The Stone of Destiny was used in Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and also in the coronation of the King in 2023.

It was formally returned to Scotland in 1996 to go on display at Edinburgh Castle, but in March last year it left the capital for Perth Museum as the centrepiece of a £27m redevelopment.

(c) Sky News 2025: This Is Rigged activist who damaged Stone of Destiny display case ordered to undertake unpaid work