Woman pleads guilty to assault after throwing milkshake at Nigel Farage during election campaign
A 25-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to assault after throwing a milkshake at Nigel Farage during the general election campaign.
Victoria Thomas Bowen, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London this morning charged with assault by beating and criminal damage.
She had initially denied the charges, but changed her pleas to guilty before her trial was due to begin this morning.
Nigel Farage and Victoria Thomas Bowen arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning. Pic: PA
Mr Farage, 60, was covered with a drink as he left the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoon’s pub in Clacton-on-Sea on 4 June.
Prosecutors alleged that £17.50 worth of criminal damage was caused to a jacket belonging to Mr Farage’s security officer, James Woolfenden.
He had addressed supporters at a rally earlier in the day and was left with the yellow liquid splattered across his dark blue suit.
Deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram adjourned sentencing to 16 December and told the defendant: “You have pleaded guilty to, in my judgment, two serious charges.
“This was an unprovoked, targeted attack now on an elected Member of Parliament. I take a serious view of these offences.
“I am seeking a pre-sentence report which will consider all options for sentence.”
Victoria Thomas Bowen leaving Westminster Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to assault by beating and criminal damage. Pic: PA
In a witness statement read out in court, Mr Farage said he was not injured but “this incident caused me concern as I have only been going about my job” and that he tries to “have as much public engagement as possible”.
“I’m saddened that this has happened at a public campaign,” he added.
Thomas Bowen was arrested shortly after the incident. She told police she saw a post online advertising Mr Farage’s rally in Clacton-on-Sea that day, the court heard.
She told officers she “does not agree with his political views”.
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She said she was outside the pub when she saw him leaving and decided to act because she “had the opportunity”.
Giving details from Thomas Bowen’s police interview, prosecutor Nishma Shah told the court: “She acknowledges that this was an assault and that the liquid would have gone over the jackets of him and others and caused them to get cleaning, but she states that Nigel would be able to afford this.
“She states she did not regret her actions.”
Nigel Farage after the milkshake was thrown over him during the election campaign. Pic: PA
She told police she did not intend for the cup to hit Mr Farage.
When asked why Thomas Bowen changed her plea on the day of trial, Andrew Price, defending, told the judge: “This case has had a tremendous impact on this defendant.
“There have been a number of threats made against this defendant and she as much as possible wanted to put it out of her mind and avoid making the decision that she ultimately has come to.”
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The barrister earlier made a successful application to the court to allow Thomas Bowen not to read her address out in open court, explaining “very severe threats have been made” concerning the case.
She was granted unconditional bail ahead of her sentencing.
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In August, a man who threw items at Mr Farage during the election campaign avoided being sent to prison.
Josh Greally, 28, pleaded guilty to a public order offence after throwing what appeared to be a disposable coffee cup and another object at the Reform UK leader in Barnsley town centre, South Yorkshire, on 11 June.
He was sentenced to six weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, as well as being ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity days and pay court costs.
Nigel Farage is now the MP for Clacton after winning the seat in the 4 July election with a majority of 8,405.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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