Tougher punishment for statue vandals

New legislation will give judges wider sentencing powers to punish those who damage memorials

Vandals who damage memorials face up to 10 years in jail under a new law. Ministers are to scrap the rule that limits jail terms to a maximum of three months unless more than £5,000 worth of damage is caused. It means they will face up to 10 years in jail and/ or a fine of up to £2,500 regardless of the value of the damage. The move follows protests where the Cenotaph and Winston Churchill’s statue near Parliament were daubed with graffiti, forcing them to be boarded up.

VANDALS who damage memorials face up to 10 years in jail under a new law.

The Government is to scrap the current rule that limits jail terms to a maximum of three months unless more than £5,000 worth of damage is caused.

It means they will face up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine of up to £2,500 regardless of the value of the damage.

The new offence will cover not only war and other memorials but also gardens and flowers or wreaths laid at gravestones, statues or major structures like the Cenotaph to commemorate an individual or animal, living or deceased, and events or series of events.

The legislation, part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, will include those who urinate or defecate on a statue – although because the offence relates to criminal damage, these are more likely to be covered by public order offences.

The move follows protests where the Cenotaph and Winston Churchill’s statue by Parliament were daubed with graffiti, forcing them to be boarded up, and statues linked to the slave trade have been damaged including the toppling of Edward Colston’s in Bristol.

One man linked to a far-right group was even seen urinating next to the memorial to Pc Keith Palmer, who died protecting Parliament from a terror attack in 2017.

More than 120 Tory MPS supported a backbench desecration of war memorials Bill that will now be subsumed into the new legislation.

James Sunderland, a former Army officer who co-sponsored the Bill, said: “I don’t think for a second the courts are going to be sentencing people to 10 years but it gives the judges the powers effectively to deal with it.”

Jonathan Gullis, a former teacher who is also a co-sponsor of the Bill, said the toppling of statues like Edward Colston’s in Bristol was “unhelpful and divisive”, adding: “We have uncomfortable truths about how this country got its wealth but it doesn’t justify tearing down statues. As a school teacher, every year we went in depth into the slave trade, looked at the Commonwealth and what it brought to the world and how it achieved that. It’s part of this nation and there is a chance to learn from it.”

Sir Nicholas Soames, Churchill’s grandson, said desecrating memorials was “disgusting and horrifying” although he questioned if 10 years’ jail might “overdo the point”.

He added: “Maybe increase the fines to £10,000 and up to four years in prison but I am thrilled the Government is doing something about it.”

It follows an announcement by Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, that planning permission will be required before any statue or historic monument is removed, in a bid to stop Britain’s past from being “censored”.

The new Bill, to be unveiled today, also gives new powers to police to curb non-violent protests including dictating start and finish times, and setting maximum noise levels – enforced by tougher sentences.

It will also close a loophole used by protesters to breach conditions and blocking entrances to Parliament will also become an offence.