A Dutch pro-Palestinian activist has gone on trial accused of causing more than £7,000 worth of damage after allegedly spray-painting Sir Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square with the words "Zionist war criminal" and other slogans. Casbar San Giorgi, 39, who also goes by the alias Olax Outis, denies one count of criminal damage at Southwark Crown Court, in a case that highlights ongoing tensions between pro-Palestinian protest activity and the protection of historic monuments in central London.

Prosecutors allege Giorgi scaled the 20-foot bronze monument at around 4am on 27 February wearing a red boiler suit reading "I support Palestine Action", and daubed phrases including "Free Palestine", "Globalise the intifada" and "Stop the genocide" on the statue and its plinth. He was spotted by a Greater London Authority heritage warden and later arrested by police, who arrived minutes later; repairs required elevated platforms and barriers and took two days. The prosecution told jurors the case concerns the evidence, not Giorgi's views on Gaza, and that his concern about the conflict cannot serve as a legal defence. The trial before Recorder Mukul Chawla KC continues.