Pig’s blood revenge
Olympic showjumper daubs home of Tory peer lover in gore after finding him with another woman – in scene ‘from Jilly Cooper novel’
WHEN she discovered her Tory peer boyfriend in the arms of another woman, former Olympic showjumper Lizzie Purbrick exacted a gory retribution.
In an episode that could have come from a Jilly Cooper novel, she took nine litres of pig’s blood and daubed his £900,000 home with sexual insults and a giant penis.
The 63-year-old took revenge after finding David Prior, son of a former Tory grandee, with the wife of another peer, a court heard yesterday.
She obtained the pig’s blood from a butcher friend in Norfolk and travelled to Lord Prior’s house in Kennington, South London. Purbrick used a garden sprayer to coat the inside of the house with lewd insults directed at the peer and his alleged lover.
Police found the terms ‘whore’, ‘Lady slut’ and ‘big dik [sic] Lord’ – as well as a 3ft penis – drawn in blood across the floor. Neighbours reported hearing loud music at the flat on May 9 before one noticed, in horror, that ‘blood or juice’ was seeping out on to the pavement.
Purbrick, of King’s Lynn, Norfolk – who is estranged from her South African-based husband Colonel Reggie Purbrick – had found the experience ‘cathartic’, Camberwell Magistrates’ Court was told.
She admitted causing criminal damage at the house. She had been living there with Cambridge-educated Lord Prior, an ex-MP and the son of former Cabinet minister Jim Prior, and they also shared his manor house in Swannington, Norfolk.
The court heard that he had asked her to remove property from one of his homes just before she found him with the other woman.
Police examining the bloodsoaked scene found a £1,000 cheque made out to Lord Prior for a bull which he and Purbrick had apparently purchased together for their Norfolk farm.
Simon Nicholls, defending said: ‘This whole case has the feel of something lifted straight out of the pages of a Jilly Cooper novel.’ The couple, both estranged from their spouses, had been in a relationship for years and Purbrick believed it would be lifelong.
‘To put this delicately, this comes to an end when she discovers him in the arms of another woman who is married to another member of the House of Lords,’ Mr Nicholls said. ‘The whole incident she describes as cathartic and she’s now moved on. This was a oneoff offence caused by the breakdown of a relationship.’
Purbrick, who competed for Great Britain in the 1980 Olympic Games, handed herself in to the police following the incident, the court heard. She had chosen pig’s blood because Lord Prior likes pigs.
District judge Susan Green sentenced her to a 12-month community order to complete 120 hours’ community service, and also imposed a restraining order, banning her from contacting her ex-partner. Judge Green told Purbrick: ‘I do not accept for a moment this was spontaneous. This was clearly planned and premeditated and can not be interpreted in any other way.
‘The use of pig’s blood was a deliberate indication of her plan as she knew that Lord Prior would find this particularly upsetting.
‘This was a completely disproportionate response to what happened. ‘The police found a very large amount of blood in the flat at various locations. In one of the bedrooms clothes on the floor had blood all over then and the bed was covered.
‘She wrote highly abusive slogans on the walls and on the floor. They are in my view quite appalling along with the amount of blood out on the pavement and the front mat.’
Lord Prior, chairman of the Care Quality Commission from 2013 to 2015 and a prominent Remainer who has rebelled against his own party in a bid to derail the Government’s Brexit plan, was not in court.
Purbrick, who had appeared in court in a white T-shirt and pink shorts after her journey was delayed, changed into a grey dress to speak to the media. She said she would be flying to South Africa tonight and, asked about her community service, joked: ‘I didn’t listen to be honest.’
Lord Prior had sent her a bill of £15,000 to redecorate his house, but she had refused to pay. ‘It seems a lot for pig’s blood but he says the whole house needed doing,’ she said. ‘I’m really relieved not to go to prison.’ The prosecution made no application for compensation.
‘She described it as cathartic’ ‘I’m relieved not to go to prison’