Protestors face 10 years in jail for defacing statues

 

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

 

The current rule that limits jail terms to a maximum of three months unless more than £5,000 worth of damage is caused is to be scrapped, and individuals could 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 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. Part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the legislation 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.  

 

More than 120 Tory MPs supported a backbench desecration of war memorials Bill that will now be subsumed into the new legislation. Churchill's grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames, questioned if 10 years' jail might "overdo the point", but said desecrating memorials was "disgusting and horrifying".

 

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." A former Army officer who co-sponsored the Bill, James Sunderland, 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." 

 

A former teacher, Jonathan Gullis, 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."

 

It follows an announcement by the Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, 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 also gives new powers to police to curb non-violent protests including dictating start and finish times and setting maximum noise levels, which will be enforced by tougher sentences and will also close a loophole used by protesters to breach conditions. Blocking entrances to Parliament will also become an offence.

 

 

Broadgate Legal

London Solicitors