Corkman accused of throwing soup at Crawford Art Gallery painting to contest case

The George Atkinson watercolour Anatomical Study in the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, which was attacked when a protestor threw soup at it.

A Buttevant man accused of causing criminal damage to a painting at the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork by allegedly throwing soup at it indicated on Wednesday that he would be contesting the case.

Thomas Shinnick from Kilcolman West, Buttevant, County Cork, faces a charge of causing criminal damage to the painting — George Atkinson’s Anatomical Study — at the gallery on Emmet Place, Cork. The painting is protected by glazing. It is alleged that €400 worth of damage was caused.

Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, indicated that the accused man would be pleading not guilty to the charge and that a hearing date would be required at Cork District Court. The case was adjourned to Courtroom 3 of the district court on June 20 for the purpose of setting a date for the hearing.

He is also charged with being in possession of a screwdriver on the same occasion without a lawful excuse.

It is alleged that €400 worth of damage was caused to the George Atkinson watercolour Anatomical Study in the Crawford Art Gallery.

Another solicitor, Frank Buttimer, who previously represented the accused, has since come off record and the defendant is now represented by Mr Kelleher.

Earlier this year at a previous court hearing, the accused wore a navy suit with shirt and tie and tweed cap and of over this he wore a luminous orange high-vis work jacket. 

Clipped on to the jacket were up to a dozen handwritten signs bearing various messages. They included, ‘No art on a dead planet’, ‘We won’t quit’ and other messages concerning fuel poverty, oil and related matters.