Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
The woman who threw a milkshake at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during the 2019 general election campaign has been given a suspended prison sentence. 25-year-old Victoria Thomas Bowen hurled the drink at Farage as he left a JD Wetherspoon pub in Clacton-on-Sea on the 4th of June. Thomas Bowen admitted assault by beating and criminal damage at a previous court hearing. She has been given a 13-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must pay the MEP £150 compensation, complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £450 in costs.
In a statement read by prosecutors during the sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Farage said he had “felt humiliated” and was left fearing for his safety in public. The security officer who was with him, James Woolfenden, had his suit damaged by the milkshake. Thomas Bowen was also ordered to pay him £17.50 compensation for that damage. In response to the sentencing, Farage posted on social media: “We now live in a country where you can assault a Member of Parliament and not go to prison.”
Thomas Bowen, who is an OnlyFans model, had originally denied the charges and was due to go to trial at the same court in October, but changed her pleas to guilty before proceedings began. Her defense counsel Zarif Khan told the court there was “some evidence in my submission of mental health issues.” In a statement following the sentencing, the defendant’s lawyer Caroline Liggins said: “She has suffered multiple threats since this happened, which have had a serious impact on her mental health. Victoria understands the impact of her actions and wishes to put the whole episode behind her. She hopes others can do the same.”
The judge said the “unprovoked, targeted attack” was “humiliating and it was in the full glare of cameras” and that “this was not just an attack on [Farage], but in my judgement, an attack on our parliamentary democracy.” He noted that recent years have seen several cases of unlawful attacks on politicians, whether online or physical, calling it a “dangerous trend.” Southend West’s Conservative MP Sir David Amess was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in 2021 while Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in her West Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen in 2016
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.