{"id":412209,"date":"2025-09-10T04:18:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412209\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T04:18:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:18:36","slug":"new-banksy-mural-reported-as-criminal-damage-as-police-issue-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412209\/","title":{"rendered":"New Banksy mural reported as criminal damage as police issue statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The striking new UK mural was covered up within hours of appearing<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_8531e9\">Margaret Davis Laura Harding and Callum Parke<\/strong> and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_8531e9\">PA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>12:23, 09 Sep 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757477914_920_0_Latest-Banksy-Mural-Covered-And-Guarded-By-Security-At-The-Royal-Courts-Of-Justice.jpg\" alt=\"Security guards stand in front of what is believed to be a new mural by the street artist Banksy at The Royal Courts of Justice on September 08, 2025 in London, England. Banksy posted a photograph of his latest mural on the side of the Royal Courts of Justice today, depicting a Judge beating a protester. Within hours of him posting the image the artwork had been covered over and guarded by security officers. \" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Security guards stand in front of the Banksy mural after it was covered up(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The new Banksy mural painted in central London has been reported to police as criminal damage. Officers say &#8220;inquiries continue&#8221; following the Bristol artist&#8217;s new work, which appeared yesterday on the wall of the Royal Courts of Justice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The image, which appeared on an external wall of the Queen&#8217;s Building on Monday, depicts a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard, while a judge, in a wig and gown, looms over him wielding a gavel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It has been covered by large sheets of black plastic and two metal barriers and is expected to be removed today (Tuesday), because the building is listed and therefore legally protected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: &#8220;On Monday September 8, officers received a report of criminal damage to the side of the Royal Courts of Justice. Inquiries continue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The court service confirmed that it is legally obliged to maintain the character of the building because of its listed status.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_TCB080925BanksyBRI_02JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Images showing a new work of art by Banksy, revealed on the Bristol street artist's Instagram page on August 8, 2025, showing a judge beating a protester with his gavel, on the walls of the Royal Courts of Justice in London\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Images showing a new work of art by Banksy, revealed on the Bristol street artist&#8217;s Instagram page on August 8, 2025, showing a judge beating a protester with his gavel, on the walls of the Royal Courts of Justice in London(Image: Banksy\/Instagram)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Banksy confirmed he is responsible for the work with a post on Instagram, showing the graffiti before it was covered over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The artist, whose identity is the source of constant speculation, captioned the pictures: &#8220;Royal Courts Of Justice. London.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The artwork is being guarded by security officials outside the building and sits underneath a CCTV camera.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It has been interpreted by some as a comment on the arrest of hundreds of people for supporting Palestine Action by holding up placards at protests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Palestine Action was banned by the Government as a terrorist group in July after activists damaged RAF planes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The striking new UK mural was covered up within hours of appearing Margaret Davis Laura Harding and Callum&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[17542,15791,381,748,30,188,393,4884,519,13466,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-412209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-armed-forces","9":"tag-banksy","10":"tag-bristol","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-courts","13":"tag-crime","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-royal-family","17":"tag-terrorism","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115178078488823140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}