Churchill statue vandal spared jail
Extinction Rebellion activist, 18, ‘caused great offence’ by spraying graffiti calling wartime PM racist
The Extinction Rebellion protester who defaced the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament by daubing “racist” on it has been spared jail. Benjamin Clark, 18, was ordered to pay £1,200 in compensation. He could have been imprisoned for three months and fined up to £2,500. The teenager was joined at Westminster magistrates’ court by his father, a pastor, who watched from the gallery. The court heard both received abuse and death threats after the incident.
THE teenage son of a pastor who defaced a statue of Sir Winston Churchill “caused great offence to a lot of people”, a judge said before sparing him a prison sentence and fining him instead.
Benjamin Clark, 18, an Extinction Rebellion activist, was ordered to pay more than £1,500 after scrawling the words “is a racist” on the plinth of the wartime prime minister’s statue in Parliament Square.
He could have been jailed for three months for the offence and fined up to £2,500.
Clark was j oined by his f ather Andrew, a pastor at Hertford Baptist Church, who had supported him from the gallery. Both of them have been subjected to abuse and death threats since the incident, the court heard.
The teenager admitted causing £1,642 worth of damage to the statue during the final day of the recent climate protests on Sept 10 – the second time it was defaced in three months.
During the demonstration, Clark daubed yellow graffiti on the base of the statue, writing: “is a racist”. A judge told Clark he had “caused great offence” and “provoked a strong reaction” but his case was firmly about criminal damage.
Matt Barrowcliffe, prosecuting, told Westminster magistrates’ court: “Police were present [at] that demonstration. They observed this defendant spraypainting the word ‘racist’ in yellow paint on the concrete base.”
Police officers have previously been criticised for their inaction during the event.
Sir Mike Penning, the former policing and justice minister, told The Daily Telegraph: “Parliament Square is one of the most visual and visited places in the world, there are more cameras than almost anywhere else and they still get away with it.
“They need to stop it there and then and take more robust action immediately. That is what the public expects.”
Clark, of Hertford, Herts, sat in the dock wearing a light blue shirt, green tie and dark blue suit and did not speak except to confirm his identity and enter a guilty plea.
The court heard how the process of cleaning the statue cost £1,642. Clark denied that he caused all the damage, however.
Sentencing him, District Judge Tan Ikram said: “You’ve only recently turned 18 and I very much bear that in mind in dealing with his case.
“You were part of an Extinction Rebellion protest, as a result of which you came into possession of some yellow chalk paint which you then sprayed on the base of the statue.
“You’ve caused great offence, it appears, to a lot of people and I’m told it has provoked a very strong reaction.”
He added: “The reality is that is part of the consequence of your actions – I have heard that your father has had threatening communications in relation to your behaviour and at court today there are some people who are very upset. From where I sit, this is criminal damage. This is defacing a listed statue.
“Tourists … see the City of London that people like you choose to deface … and, in doing so, you create great expense also to people who pay taxes.
So, beyond the offence, you impact every person who has to pay for the upkeep of these statues.”
Clark was ordered to pay a £200 fine, £1,200 in compensation, £85 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge.