Why was this eco-zealot not jailed for vile attack on Capt Tom statue?
AN eco- warrior who poured human faeces over a memorial to Captain Sir Tom Moore was spared prison yesterday.
Madeleine Budd, 21, admitted defacing the sculpture to the late World War Two veteran, who raised £33million for the NHS during the pandemic, as part of a climate protest in Derbyshire.
The former medical student was handed a 21-week jail term suspended for 18 months at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
It came despite her receiving a conditional discharge for invading the pitch during an Arsenal vs Liverpool football match in March, and three arrests for her part in Just Stop Oil protests in Thurrock, Essex, in April.
Budd – who was also in breach of a conditional discharge from invading the Oval cricket ground – is being investigated by two police forces and is due to appear before magistrates by postal requisition.
The activist, from Manchester, had worn a T-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘End UK Private Jets’ as she poured human waste from the chemical toilet of her caravan over the life-sized statue of Captain Sir Tom in Hatton, Derbyshire, on 30 September. She later declared in a video that every time a private jet took off, it poured a ‘bucket of s*** and blood over everything Captain Tom stood for’. The former Manadding: chester University student was charged on October 3 and spent three weeks in custody. Her lawyer Katie McFadden said her client was sorry and wouldn’t commit such offences in future, ‘She has clearly reflected on the impact of her actions and expressed how she is sorry for any offence caused to the family of Captain Tom.’
But the district judge Louisa Cieciora told Budd: ‘You had clearly thought about what would cause the most amount of outrage and publicity.
‘Although the substance you used was deliberately chosen as being the most demeaning and disgraceful as possible, equally it was a substance which can be easily cleaned.’
The judge noted her young age and her deeply-held views on climate change, adding: ‘Given your actions could not or have not achieved what you wanted them to and you want to find a better way to express your message... I am just about persuaded I can suspend your sentence.’
The public gallery was filled with Budd’s supporters, who were seen crying and hugging each other after the hearing.
Captain Sir Tom raised millions for the NHS by walking laps of his garden in the run-up to his 100th birthday and was knighted before he died with Covid in February last year. David Burns, prosecuting, said Budd’s actions had caused serious distress and outrage to the public.
‘Caused serious distress to public’