Man jailed for urinating at memorial had drunk 16 pints
A MAN who urinated next to a memorial for Pc Keith Palmer had drunk 16 pints during an all-night binge, a court heard yesterday as he was jailed for two weeks.
Andrew Banks, 28, travelled to Westminster on Saturday with a group of football supporters to “protect the statues” from vandalism during a demonstration – despite not knowing which statues he was purportedly defending.
Far-right protesters descended on the capital after several public monuments were defaced during recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) events. However, the anticipated BLM march was cancelled on Saturday, leading the Right-wing activists to clash with police.
Yesterday, Westminster magistrates’ court was told that Banks, of Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, had drunk 16 pints of beer throughout Friday night and into the following day.
He was arrested after pictures were published of him desecrating the memorial to the officer, who was killed in the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack.
Tobias Ellwood, the MP who tended to Pc Palmer in his dying moments, described the incident as “abhorrent”.
Banks admitted outraging public decency and was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment by Emma Arbuthnot, the chief magistrate for England and Wales. She told Banks he had caused “much shock and upset” and his offence was serious enough to justify immediate imprisonment. He was also fined £128.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, yesterday told the Commons that 137 arrests were made on Saturday, while at least 100 officers have been hurt since protests began.
She said: “They were violent, they were aggressive and abusive towards police officers. They were patently racist. It is right that a good number have been arrested.”