Glasgow court sets 2028 trial over alleged Trump Turnberry vandalism
Seven people will stand trial in Glasgow in 2028 over allegations that they vandalised Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire during a protest on 8 March last year. The case has moved into a formal criminal timetable, with the court fixing 14 February 2028 for proceedings expected to last 15 days.
The accused are Kieran Robson, 35, Uzma Bashir, 56, Ricky Southall, 34, Autumn Ward, 23, Rebecca Sian Davies, 29, John Moxley, 58, and Dylan Chiaramello, 25. Prosecutors say the alleged conduct amounted to “malicious mischief” and that the charge is aggravated by a terrorist connection under section 31 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.
The allegations describe a coordinated act of property damage at the five-star resort rather than a single isolated incident. Turf at the golf courses was reportedly dug up, fairways and greens were sprayed with weed-killer glyphosate, and political slogans were allegedly painted or scratched into the grass and onto a building, walls and pillars. The indictment also states that damage to a sprinkler system caused flooding and that a light was broken.
One sentence captures the scale of the case plainly: this was not cosmetic graffiti.
Property damage, protest and the criminal threshold
The legal significance of the case turns on two layers of alleged wrongdoing. First is the vandalism itself, which prosecutors say caused damage across multiple parts of the resort. Second is the claim that the alleged offence carries a terrorist connection, a designation that can influence the seriousness of the charge and, if established, the penalty range on conviction.
Robson, Bashir and Davies face a separate allegation of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. Prosecutors claim the trio drove to Turnberry in vehicles fitted with fake number plates and then used those same cars to escape after the incident in a way intended to “conceal and disguise” their movements. In practical terms, that allegation shifts the case beyond simple damage to property and into questions about intent, concealment and post-offence conduct.
Robson was on bail at the time from Edinburgh Sheriff Court on 9 January last year, adding another procedural layer to his position before the Glasgow proceedings. All seven remain on bail meantime.
Defence pleas and the pace of preparation
Defence lawyers entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the accused, with one exception in form rather than substance: Southall’s advocate said she had only become involved in the case during the current week. That detail signals the kind of incremental procedural adjustment that often shapes major criminal cases long before a jury is sworn.
A hearing at the High Court in Glasgow was told that a “significant draft joint minute” of agreed evidence was under consideration. In Scottish criminal procedure, a joint minute can narrow disputes by setting out matters both sides accept, leaving the trial to focus on the real points of contention. When that process is substantial, it can reduce the time spent on uncontested evidence and sharpen the case around intent, participation and the legal character of the alleged conduct.
Lord Arthurson fixed the trial and scheduled a further hearing before then in March 2027. The gap between the present hearing and the trial date is unusually long by ordinary public expectation, but the interval gives both sides time to settle evidence, resolve procedural issues and decide what will and will not be contested in court.
A resort, a protest and a charge with wider legal weight
Turnberry is not an anonymous site. It is a high-profile property associated with Donald Trump, and that political visibility is part of why the alleged vandalism drew attention well beyond Ayrshire. The resort damage, if proved, will be judged not only as property crime but in the context of a protest that prosecutors have tied to a terrorism-related aggravation.
Glyphosate sprayed on fairways and greens carries a particular practical consequence for a golf course: it can damage the turf’s condition and usability in a way that is slower and more disruptive than superficial defacement. Dug-up turf, broken fixtures and flood damage can also create repair costs that extend beyond the immediate appearance of the site. In a resort environment, the impact is measured not only in physical damage but in the interruption of normal operation and the resources required to restore the grounds.
The charge also places the case in a category where motive and messaging may matter as much as the material damage. Political slogans allegedly marked into grass and stone point to a protest action designed to be seen, not concealed. Yet the prosecution case, as framed in court, does not rest on symbolism alone; it rests on whether the acts amounted to criminal damage aggravated by the alleged terrorist connection.
What the Glasgow jury will have to decide
When the case reaches trial in February 2028, the central questions will be straightforward even if the evidence is not. Did the accused take part in the damage alleged at Turnberry? Were the vehicles, fake number plates and escape route part of a plan to avoid arrest and conceal involvement? And does the proof support the aggravated charge under counter-terrorism legislation?
Those issues will be tested over 15 days in Glasgow if the timetable holds. For now, the case remains at the preparatory stage, with a further hearing due in March 2027 and all seven accused continuing on bail.