Edinburgh crime: Eco-protestor accused of throwing paint at Scottish Parliament building remanded in custody

An eco-protestor who allegedly sprayed the Scottish Parliament building with red paint has been remanded in custody.

Hannah Torrance-Bright, 21, appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday charged with maliciously painting the outside of the Capital building. Torrance-Bright, from Glasgow, pleaded not guilty to the charge but was remanded in custody after a sheriff was told she allegedly committed the offence while on four bail orders for alleged “analogous” offences.

Lawyer Rhiannon Spear, defending, said her client, who is a student at Glasgow School of Art, would possibly lose her tenancy if she was not released and that any remand would affect her course work. Ms Spear said the 4th year sculpture student had been “incredibly distressed” at being held in custody after being arrested following the alleged incident at the parliament building on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Spear said Torrance-Bright was considered to be an “outstanding student” and said she was “under no illusion of the position she finds herself in”. The lawyer added her client had suffered “trauma” at being remanded overnight and that “custody is not the environment for this young woman”.

But Sheriff Adrian Fraser expressed his concerns to the court and said he would be remanding Torrance-Bright for at least 24 hours to gain further information about imposing a supervised bail order on her.

The sheriff set down a notional trial diet for today where Torrance-Bright will again appear in the dock from custody.

Co-accused Georgia Barrett, 27, from Brighton, Ruth Lanser, 27, from Glasgow and Hannah Taylor, 23, from Derbyshire, all appeared from custody alongside Torrance-Bright and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Sheriff Fraser released all three accused on bail with the special condition not to go within 250 metres of the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh. All four are accused of maliciously spray painting on or around the Scottish Parliament Building, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh, on August 1 this year.