Sunday Times

Showjumper chills in Joburg after bloody revenge on lying lord

- By SUTHENTIRA GOVENDER

● Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman armed with pig’s blood and a garden sprayer.

Just ask Conservati­ve Party MP Lord David Prior, whose London apartment was plastered with lewd messages written in hog’s blood by his ex-lover, former British Olympian Lizzie Purbrick, after she caught him cheating on her.

Now Purbrick, 63, who competed in showjumpin­g, has flown to South Africa to escape the heat.

Purbrick was involved in a two-year relationsh­ip with Prior after the collapse of a previous marriage to Reggie Purbrick, who lives on a KwaZulu-Natal farm.

Lizzie did not respond to requests for comment, but her ex-husband told the Sunday Times she arrived in South Africa on Friday. It is understood that she will stay in Johannesbu­rg.

“What can I say . . . I’m here and she was there. It’s best you speak to her to hear her story,” Reggie said.

Lizzie Purbrick was this week sentenced to 120 hours of community service and slapped with a restrainin­g order for using blood she bought from a local butcher to cover the walls and floor with phrases such as “whore”, “big dik lord” and “lady slut”. She also used the blood to paint a picture of a penis and to douse Prior’s bed linen.

The Camberwell Magistrate’s Court, in London, heard how Purbrick — who admitted to a charge of criminal damage — left a cheque for £1 000 (about R17 600) for the havoc she had caused.

According to the BBC, defence attorney Simon Nicholls told the court Purbrick had thought her relationsh­ip with Prior would have “longevity”.

“To put this delicately, this comes to an end when she discovers him in the arms of another woman.”

Purbrick, the court heard, believed her revenge was “cathartic” and allowed her to “move on”.

“This was a one-off offence caused by a breakdown of a relationsh­ip,” said Nicholls, who added that the case felt like something out of a Jilly Cooper novel.

Purbrick told the BBC she was relieved at not having to go to prison and described the judge as a “sweetheart”.

She said she was flying to South Africa where she would spend some time. “I think I’ve got two years to do 20 hours — I didn’t listen to be honest,” the BBC reported.

 ??  ?? Lizzie Purbrick painted obscene slogans in blood in her lover Lord David Prior’s home after she caught him cheating.
Lizzie Purbrick painted obscene slogans in blood in her lover Lord David Prior’s home after she caught him cheating.

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