Former Olympian daubed Tory peer’s home in pig’s blood insults
A FORMER Olympic showjumper used pig’s blood to daub lewd messages inside a Tory peer’s house after she found he had cheated on her, a court has heard.
Lizzie Purbrick, 63, admitted using a key to enter the south London home of Conservative peer David Prior as a “cathartic” response to seeing her partner of several years “in the arms of another woman”.
Camberwell Magistrates’ Court heard Purbrick used a garden sprayer and several litres of pig’s blood to cover the walls with a number of explicit phrases on May 9.
She also drew a penis on the floor and left a cheque for £1,000 before discarding the remainder of the blood on the floor and leaving.
Purbrick, of West Acre, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, admitted one charge of criminal damage to the home in Kennington, south London.
Defending, Simon Nicholls said: “This whole case has the feel of something lifted straight out of the pages of a Jilly Cooper novel.”
Mr Nicholls said the pair, both estranged from their respective married partners, had been in a relationship for several years, adding that his client felt her affair with Lord Prior “had longevity”.
But he said: “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.
“The whole incident she describes as cathartic and she’s now moved on.
“This was a one-off offence caused by the breakdown of a relationship.”
She immediately handed herself in to the police following the incident, the court heard.
Lord Prior, son of former Conservative cabinet Minister Jim Prior, was MP for North Norfolk from 1997 to 2001. He was chairman of the Care Quality Commission from 2013 until 2015.
Purbrick competed for Great Britain in the 1980 Olympic Games. The court heard Purbrick played loud music as she carried out the act – selecting pig blood because the victim “liked pigs”.
A neighbour then raised the alarm when blood was seen seeping underneath the door.
District judge Susan Green sentenced Purbrick to 120 hours’ community service and imposed a restraining order.