Pensioners deny defacing Charles Darwin’s grave

Two Just Stop Oil activists who defaced Charles Darwin’s grave in Westminster Abbey have denied causing criminal damage. Alyson Lee, 66, and Diane Bligh, 77, daubed ‘1.5 is dead’ in orange paint on the 19th century biologist’s headstone on 13 January. The pair were referencing the goal, set by the Paris Climate Agreement, of making sure global temperatures rise to no more than 1.5C higher than their pre-industrial level. The eco-zealots then gave onlookers a brief lecture on how the…