On 7 November 2025, Glasgow University student Hannah Taylor and Strathclyde University student Catriona Roberts – the ‘Glasgow Uni 2’ – we’re both found not guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court on the charge of Malicious Mischief.
The charge related to their joint protest at Glasgow University on 6 February 2025 involving the use of water-based dissolvable paint on the James McCune Smith Learning Hub campus building. Hannah and Cat were protesting Glasgow University’s continued investments in weapons-producing companies involved in arming Israel.
In court, both defendants made impassioned and honourable closing submissions, after self-representing themselves in the course of the trial. These statements are reproduced below, with the permission of Hannah and Cat.
Hannah’s submission:
On the 6th of February 2025 I, Hannah Taylor, sprayed red paint on a building on the Glasgow University campus to protest the university’s arms investment policies.The student campaign against these policies has spanned years and has been largely dismissed and ignored by the University management. Students have held rallies, signed petitions and staged sit-ins, all of which have fallen on completely deaf ears. The university shows a total disregard for student and staff opinions. The most egregious example of such disregard, which compelled me to act, occurred when the university sent out a survey to gather students and staff opinions on the university’s socially responsible investment policy. The university acknowledged in their response to the survey that divestment from all companies which earn more than 10% of their income from the defence sector was supported by ‘a clear majority of staff and students’. They however decided to ignore this and continue to back their original investment policy which allowed for investments in and acceptance of research grants from weapons manufacturers, even those selling weapons to militaries which are engaged in war crimes. The reason given was ‘firstly because [divestment] could be interpreted as a signal that the University was opposed to the existence of the UK defence sector and secondly in recognition of the University’s ongoing research relationships with a range of firms active in this area.’ Essentially that it was not financially beneficial to divest. They however reassured students that they ‘strongly endorsed the University’s humanitarian efforts to support those affected by conflict, particularly the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.’ This hypocritical statement, overtly admitting that the university was happy to fund a genocide as long as they could use the resulting disaster as an opportunity to launder their reputation through so-called humanitarian efforts, was the final straw. I felt I had to act. I knew a public and eye-catching show of student opposition to these policies would be an effective and peaceful way to communicate to the university that the student body could no longer be ignored. We were no longer happy to fill in surveys the results of which would be disregarded or attend rallies in support of Palestine just for divestment to be struck off the court meeting agenda. The student and staff response to my protest confirmed my belief that people were sick of being ignored. I received overwhelmingly positive feedback with people approaching us to thank us for what we were doing and some people even bringing us tea to help with the cold. Since the protest, student support for divestment has been further confirmed by a Student Representative Council referendum resulting in 89% of students voting in favour of it.
In response to the charge of malicious mischief, I assert that there was no damage to the property. I sprayed water based paint on the windows of the building which could be easily and quickly removed using typical window cleaning equipment. The paint had been washed off within the day. The building was never blocked and staff and students were never prevented from continuing their work or studies. I am not a proponent of preventing people from gaining their education. In fact, I am in support of making education accessible to all without forcing people to become financially complicit in war crimes. Far from causing damage to property I believe my actions were taken as a direct attempt to protect the lives and property of millions of Palestinians in Gaza who were at the time and are still being held under siege and illegally bombed by the Israeli state. Glasgow University invests over half a million directly in BAE Systems who build the F-35, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets which are used by the IDF to bomb Palestinians. As of May 2024 the university has £60 million in active research grants from Airbus, BAE Systems, Dassault, Honeywell, Jacobs, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, QinetiQ, Siemens, Teledyne, and Thales. All of these companies sell various technologies including fighter jets, drones, surveillance technology and missiles to the Israeli State which uses them to enforce the illegal occupation and genocide in Palestine.
My behaviour was not reckless. I carefully considered my actions before going through with my protest. I knew that there was a high chance my degree would be negatively affected or that I would be expelled. This was not a decision I took lightly out of disregard for my degree. I value my degree greatly and put immense amounts of time and effort into it. Despite my deep investment in my degree I still felt it was worth jeopardising to do my protest. I thought of all the students in Gaza and the West Bank whose education has been disrupted by violence, death and starvation, about the fact that every single higher education facility in Gaza has been razed to the ground by IDF bombs. I was banned from attending all lectures and tutorials by the university for 6 weeks meaning I had to learn the content only through reading the notes and watching lecture recordings when they were available. Even this spotty and disrupted education is more than the 50,000 injured or killed children in Gaza will ever receive. The scale of the disruption to the lives of Gazans by Israel, researched and funded in part by my university makes the bit of paint I splashed on a window in protest seem laughable. Future generations will look back on Glasgow University’s complicity in this genocide with shame.
My behaviour was also neither intimidating nor non-peaceful. I calmly walked while spraying the building and proceeded to sit, speaking calmly to the camera and conversing with passersby in a clear and polite manner. I explicitly elected to do this protest at a time when I knew the area would be empty and ensured that I never sprayed paint in the direction of a person. When university security staff approached me, I engaged with them honestly and politely, and complied with police at all stages of my arrest. I did not see any signs of distress or fear in any of the observers of my protest, only interest and support. I am an advocate for non-violent methods of direct action and believe my protest to have been entirely peaceful. I believe my actions were within the bounds of my fundamental rights to protest and freedom of speech both of which are integral to an academic environment.
I feel absolutely no shame or regret for my actions. I hope that history will view my behaviour more kindly than the current political climate does. Free Palestine.
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Cat’s submission:
In order to fully assess the degree to which my actions were wilful, wanton or malicious, I believe it is incredibly important to discus the motivations behind it.
Over 170 charities, such as Amnesty International and Save the Children, have called what is happening in Gaza a genocide, perpetuated by the Israeli state. Governmental bodies, such as the UN and at least 55 national governments including Scotland, have also called this a genocide. In doing so, the Scottish Government have stopped all new funds to arms firms supplying Israel. The Scottish Government’s recognition and subsequent divestment happened after this action, and many others like it took place. This is to say, that this action worked; and that protest of this nature is vital when other action such as rallies and marches are ignored.
I don’t have to tell you about the suffering, starvation and death in Palestine as it has played out, time and time again, on our news channels and in our press. The question I asked before taking this action was ‘why, if a genocide is taking place in front of our eyes, are the government and institutions in the city where I live investing in the annihilation of an entire people?’ And ‘why is a University such as Glasgow allowed to ignore 86% of its student body and continue investing in weaponry?’
This action was carefully considered. The use of water-based paint, such that it could be easily removed. The choice of time and location to ensure no students’ education was impacted. And the choice to engage with students and explain why our actions were necessary.
In fact, the student body reacted overwhelmingly positively to this action. If you look at the footage, at 20 mins and 19 seconds, you’ll see a member of the student body give us cups of tea to stave off the cold.
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https://www.thenational.scot/news/25012873.glasgow-university-rector-speaks-student-barred-campus/